What Happens In Slytherin
by superxprettyxkitty
Summary: Severus is returning for his sixth year at Hogwarts, things seem better and when he is invited to a spiced up game of Truth or Dare in the first week back things turn to the unexpected and consequences are made, he realises he has fallen for Avery. Mpreg warning.
1. Chapter 1

Okay so I fancied something new

Snape and Avery school era

BoyxBoy don't like don't read ;)

Rated M for a reason people

Enjoy!

- SXPXK

A new year and a new start especially for one student in particular. Severus Snape had just entered his sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was actually quite eagerly anticipating being back at school. After a summer of complete and utter boredom, days spent helping his mother clean the house or lazing around upstairs in his bedroom shooting down flies with his wand he was more than ready to get back to lessons and continue with his school life, learn new things this year even if it did mean putting himself back in that same horrible position with other students as it had done for the past six years. Now at sixteen, he'd pretty much learned the ropes of everything and it was almost like a repeat going back each year at the start of term what with all the festivities going on.

It wasn't that Severus didn't have any friends, no he had a few they just weren't particularly close as such. Lily Evans was a start, they had been friends since they were nine years old and for a while Severus had even thought that he fancied her but the feelings were soon crushed by the dawning realisation of how different they were, he had hoped to remain friends with her but unfortunately the relationship between them was beginning to tear and pull apart at the seams, it appeared Lily was losing interest arguments were breaking out more frequently between them often because of perfect pureblood James Potter or his Slytherin friends. Yes despite Severus' seemingly low self-confidence and the sheer amount of students that actually disliked him (also mainly Potter and friends doing) he did actually have a small group of friends in Slytherin. Evan Rosier, Mulciber, Wilkes, Regulus Black, until his third year Lucius Malfoy, and his girlfriend Narcissa Black and of course Avery. Severus always found it to be a distinct sort of group, similar ambitions, fairly similar abilities and similar interests they were easy to get along with most of the time and offered same a small amount of valuable protection which he so desperately needed.

Usually if perfect Potter and friends saw him with his friends other students liked to call 'the death eater gang' they would just shoot vicious glares, shout 'death eaters' and other such things when they were a fair enough distance away not to cause a scene. Like the rest of the school, even the Marauders weren't silly enough to mess with Mulciber or Avery in particular as they could turn very nasty.

Severus was sitting in the warm, comfortable Slytherin common room the first evening back, well second technically but speaking as the first day of lessons. It had been a long day, double Defence against the Dark Arts that morning, followed by double Arithmancy then double Potions, not to mention the three hours on top of that Severus had spent in the library doing his homework straight away so he was on top form during class, he hated ever being behind and he found that if he did his homework and kept on top of everything from the first day he would be under a lot less pressure to revise and prepare for the end of year exams, not to mention avoid the hefty detentions he could receive if he didn't do his homework on time.

"Hey Snape" Avery spoke dropping himself into the sofa opposite by the crackling fire of the Slytherin dungeon. Severus looked up from the book he was reading to make eye contact with the boy. Avery was a slim boy above average height, slightly taller than same in fact with long straight dark hair that fell to the base of his neck, soft warm hazel eyes and pale, fine small features, in most people's view, he was very handsome.

"This weekend we're planning a little game up in the dorm, you fancy joining us?" he asked as Mulciber dropped down next to him and Evan next to Severus.

"What kind of game?" Severus asked suspiciously, the last time any of his dorm mates had come up with any sort of 'game' it ended up with Evan having the toilet seat lodged around his waist and Mulciber throwing up blue jelly for two days, it wasn't anything even remotely easy to explain to Madame Pomfrey.

"Just something simple and fun you know, truth or dare" Avery shrugged a little a smirk playing on his handsome features.

Severus quirked an eyebrow. "Truth or dare... don't you think we're a little bit old for Muggle children's games?"

The three other boys let out a short loud laugh.

"Oh Snape this isn't just any old game" Evan laughed clapping a hand on his back his soft blonde hair falling in front of his face.

"No, no this is a very special game" Mulciber grinned flashing his pearly white teeth, his grey eyes glinting mischievously in the fire glow.

"Yes you see we've got a little something to kick it up a few notches" Avery spoke a grin still lingering on his face. "I know for a fact you will have heard of a little thing called Veritaserum, Severus, so we will push that aside knowing it will be used on someone who is telling a truth or someone we do not believe is telling us the truth" he continued.

"Sounds relatively interesting" Severus replied slowly.

"Now for the fun part, the dares if someone refuses to perform a dare then they will automatically lose the game, no matter how bad the dare is or if they lie during a truth they will lose" Mulciber grinned.

"So basically it's a pretty easy game then" Severus replied with a slight shrug deciding that this was going nowhere fast.

"Ah but Severus it is my friend you see, we have this" Avery pulled a small bottle from his pocket holding it up in the light. The liquid inside was a darkish pink colour encased in a small clear vial, corked of course.

"Care to tell me what that is?" Severus quirked an eyebrow curiously.

"This, my friend is a little potion of no particular importance, the only person or people shall we say this concerns is the first two to lose the game" Avery chuckled.

"Right can you please just tell me what this does, not that I plan on losing" Severus said quickly.

"Neither do any of us" Evan laughed.

"The first ones to lose, one will drink this potion and it will create an opening behind his balls and he will have to have sex with the other loser" Avery smirked and Severus' eyebrows shot into his dark hairline.

"That certainly kicks it up several notches"

"Yes, so are you in or are you too Hufflepuff to play with the big boys?" Mulciber grinned.

Severus was quiet for a few moments pondering on this, if he lost he would have to take that and have sex with one of the three other boys sitting around him, what if they invited Regulus and Wilkes along surely that would up his chances of winning if there was more of them. But what if he lost? Who else would lose if he did and what happened when they had sex, it would be all males so it would be like gay sex just a little... stranger to say the least. Severus bit his bottom lip and frowned aware that all eyes were on him eagerly anticipating his answer. Severus was no Hufflepuff! He may not be a Gryffindor but he was surely brave enough to take on his friends at a little game of truth or dare.

"Yes I'm in" Severus said before he realised the words were out of his mouth and the others gave a small cheer.

"Great that makes six of us playing, should be fun" Evan rubbed his hands together eagerly.

"Don't get too excited Evan you might lose" Mulciber chuckled and Evan shot him a filthy glare.

"Don't fancy getting fucked by another bloke in the near future so I don't plan to lose thank you very much" he retorted wrinkling his nose with disgust.

"I don't think any of us do mate so best be on top form for Friday night lads" Avery grinned a slightly odd expression flickered across his face for a few moments before it faded completely.

They all burst out laughing, partly with amusement and partly with nerves over who would lose this little deal of theirs.

That evening Severus lay awake, his emerald curtains drawn around the bed as he nestled himself down under the blankets. In truth he was looking forward to Friday night, hopefully this time round it would be a good laugh and maybe if he did lose it would all be some big joke, mind you, when it came to Mulciber and Avery very rarely was anything a joke they were known to be slightly sadistic and dangerous but they were alright with their friends. Severus sighed, he just had to win or at least come in third on Friday no matter what he certainly didn't fancy fucking spineless little Evan, Severus shuddered at the thought.

This drew Severus' mind to the thought of who he would enjoy sleeping with out of the group, Evan being bottom of the quite literal pile. There was Mulciber, tall dark haired and strong with sharp features, a bit rough around the edges and malicious, Severus didn't fancy trying it with him too much in truth he was a little frightened of the boy. There was Wilkes, a little smaller than Snape himself he was a little over weight with brown eyes and dull light brown hair Severus never really thought of him much as a tag along, one time he even compared him with the likes of Peter Pettigrew. There was Regulus Black now that would be a bit more of a prize, Regulus was slim, slender with a nice figure and a handsome face, not to mention pure blood, dark hair and grey eyes seemingly very pretty for a boy but also had a sharp tongue and very spoiled. But then there was Avery, tall slim handsome Avery with his charming smile and warm eyes, Severus had first gotten along with Avery before the others when Avery had complimented him on his intelligence and then asked for help with his Ancient Runes homework. Like the others though Avery could be malicious and nasty but he had a lighter friendlier side and would give into things slightly easier than some of the others he would break easier and for that reason Severus found him much less intimidating and far more interesting.

Severus stopped abruptly his eyes widening, he was thinking about having sex with five of his friends. Shaking his head trying to rid himself of the thought, what the hell was wrong with him? He couldn't just sit back and think of which one he would most likely take for a joyride, or be taken for a ride as a matter of fact, it just wasn't done and if they all found out he would be the laughing stock and probably get hexed for it, but somewhere in Severus' brain spoke that the others were probably weighing up the same outcome.

Rolling over onto his side he listened to the deep even breathing of his friends and the occasional soft snore from Mulciber. Maybe it wasn't too late to back out if he changed his mind later in the week.

A few days passed and Wednesday evening rolled around much quicker than expected, Severus had been so busy settling into his classes and avoiding the Marauders he hadn't even had time to think for himself much less think about the upcoming game on Friday night.

It was after dinner that evening when Severus had finished putting some of his things back into his school bag, slung it over his shoulder and left the dormitory. Evan had already fallen asleep reading through his Divination text book, why he took the subject when he couldn't even manage to stay awake through it was beyond Severus, Mulciber was flipping through a Quidditch magazine, and the others were off somewhere doing Merlin knows what.

Severus headed down the flight of stairs and into the common room, not really paying any attention to his surroundings he made his way over to the exit when a voice stopped him in his tracks. Severus whirled around jumping slightly as Avery sat himself up on the sofa grinning at him.

"Hey, where are you off to?" Avery said leaning on the back of the sofa he had apparently been lounging on before Severus walked in.

"Oh just off to the library for a while, nothing better to do" Severus shrugged slightly trying not to sound too nerdy, the others quite often teased him for this trait.

Avery yawned and continued to stare at Severus making him slightly uncomfortable. "Mind if I come with? I could use your brain to help me with my potions essay I know you're the best in our year at that subject" he said slowly.

Severus stared at him for a few moments, he seemed genuine enough so Severus nodded, his long black locks flopping slightly in front of his pale face.

"Great, back in a second" Avery said jumping to his feet and hurrying over to the dormitory stairs.

Moments later the boy returned with his school bag and followed Snape out into the dungeon corridor.

"We haven't really had much of a chance to talk since we got back, did you have a nice summer?" Avery asked casually as the two boys walked along the cool dim corridor together.

"Was alright I guess, bored as hell but there isn't really anything to do where I live" Severus shrugged. "What about yours?"

"It was quite decent actually, spent most of it helping my dad and playing Quidditch with my cousins" Avery replied as they walked out through the entrance hall and made their way towards the stair cases.

"Sounds a lot better than mine" Severus chuckled as they headed up the stairs and out along the library corridor.

"Had any more trouble from Black?" Avery asked quickly watching Severus closely through the corner of his eye.

"Regulus? No I don't have a problem with him"

"No, I meant his Gryffindor brother, Sirius" Avery replied with a small laugh.

"Oh, well not really they've been passing me notes and shouting pathetic abuse as usual but what can you expect from a group of imbeciles like that, all the same those Gryffindor's not one of them has any manners" Severus growled.

"What about that little Mud blood you used to hand around with then?" Avery asked casually and Severus shrugged.

"What about her? She hardly bothers to speak to me anymore, partly because of that prat Potter and his little minions, I still like her I won't lie about that we've been friends for years but we're growing apart, both of us know it and what can we do" Severus shrugged as they entered the library passing the reception desk they headed along one of the rows of enormous bookcases towards the back.

"Ah screw her, she aint worth it you're better off with the friends you have now than her, what can she do for you? Nothing that's what" Avery replied dropping his bag onto the table taking a seat next to Severus at the far right hand corner at the back of the library.

"I know she's not, she thinks we're all death eaters and we practice dark magic, that we're trying to become some evil force it's pathetic really she's just hung up on her Gryffindor pride than anything else being so up herself, fuck it" Severus wrinkled his nose as he pulled his things from his back out onto the table.

"Just forget about her, what else do you expect from filth?" Avery chuckled and Snape couldn't help but smirk, this was actually making him feel better, even though he knew it wasn't right to be talking about Lily in such a way especially if someone overheard she would be furious with him and only start another argument- wait that just backed up what Avery said about her. Knowing this amused Severus even more.

They sat in silence for a little while flipping through their texts books and reading quietly before anyone said anything.

"So how many Jobberknoll feathers does this potion need?" Avery asked staring blankly at his essay on Memory Potions.

"Oh that's quite easy actually, you should add two midway through the brewing and then at the very end add two more so six in total" Severus replied watching as Avery grinned and scribbled it down.

"Thanks"

"Any time" Severus smiled.

"So are you looking forward to Friday night?" Avery asked trying to strike up conversation over the scratching of their quills.

"Kind of, after what happened the last time we had a game of something I'm slightly worried about this time" Severus laughed slightly glancing at Avery through the corner of his eye, the dark haired boy was staring at him, just staring nothing more.

"No need to worry Severus, I'm sure it'll be a right laugh, see who we can make a fool of this time" Avery grinned and Severus smirked now that did sound fun.

"As long as we don't have to explain any crazy elaborate calamities to Madame Pomfrey then I'm up for it"

"Yeah, just if you lose you're gonna be fucking with someone" Avery smirked and Severus looked away.

"Were you actually serious about that, do we really have to fuck the other loser that is whoever loses?" Severus blinked.

"Yes, makes it a little more interesting doesn't it? Yeah just means the truths and dares can be a bit more extreme this time so people will do them just so they don't have to top and bottom with another bloke, that's why we got that potion you see just so the guy on bottom didn't have to take it up his arse" Avery explained and Severus nodded slowly.

"Fair enough I guess" Severus swallowed nervously.

It was quiet for a few moments and Severus felt himself becoming increasingly uncomfortable wondering what Avery was going to come out with next.

"So if you lost and you had the choice, who would you most like to fuck?" Avery asked casually and Severus felt himself blush furiously and look away.

"Oh I haven't exactly thought about that" he lied trying to conceal the red stains on his cheeks from his friend.

Avery stared at him for a few moments before he burst out laughing making Severus increasingly hot and uncomfortable.

"Come on Severus I'm sure you have, I'm sure all of us have at least considered the possible outcome of a loss no matter how much we don't want to" Avery chuckled slightly and Severus swallowed.

"Well I don't plan on losing so I don't need to think about it" Severus said quickly. "Why, who have you been thinking of?" he asked curiously looking at Avery who blushed slightly at the question.

"Nobody" the other boy replied and Severus stared at him.

"See you don't like it when you get asked back" Severus chuckled slightly and Avery fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat.

"I didn't think of that" Avery grumbled and Severus grinned triumphantly to himself.

Thursday passed at the blink of an eye and it was already the last lesson on the first Friday back at school.

Severus sat at his desk alone in potions as usual, his friends were sitting a few rows behind him but for some reason nobody ever sat with him in potions, most likely because there was four of them and two to a desk and the fact people didn't genuinely want to sit with him during lessons for some reason.

"Please remember to take your cauldrons off of the fire before you add the last ingredient, I don't want a repeat of last time" Professor Slughorn spoke over the class his eyes flickering over to where James and Sirius sat smirking to one another. Severus rolled his eyes, he hated carelessness.

"Good afternoon Severus, I marked your essay and you did surprisingly well for the first piece back, have you been reading ahead during the summer?" he kind old potions master asked as he stopped in front of Severus' desk.

"Yes I wanted to get ahead before we started I find it easier to keep on top of things that way" Severus replied stirring his cauldron slowly.

"That's good, next time you should try changing the structure around a little I think it could really help especially if it's needed for the exams" Slughorn replied peering into the cauldron and nodding at it seemingly quite pleased.

"Okay sir" Severus nodded. He watched as Slughorn made his way behind him to see to the others and could see James and Sirius staring and laughing at him through the corner of his eye.

Severus sighed rolling his dark eyes, after a few minutes of this childish game he had had enough. "What?" he snapped at them and they laughed even harder. Sirius scribbled something down on a piece of paper and folded it up into an origami style bird, Severus watched as he waited until Slughorn had his back turned before he gently blew under the wings and sent it fluttering across the classroom landing on the desk in front of Severus. Shooting them a glare, Severus cautiously picked up the bird and opened it up warily.

'Alright there Snivellus, you're looking as greasy as ever, still kissing up to old Slughorn are we? Figures you'd have nothing to do with your summer but waste it on your own in your sludge pit wallowing in your own grease and filth because nobody likes you.'

Severus screwed up the paper and tossed it carelessly onto the floor wrinkling his nose with disgust, he tried to ignore the howl of laughter coming from the two immature boys who turned to high five Pettigrew and earn a thorough head shaking from Lupin. Childish, immature bastards all of them. Perfect Potter with his untamed hair, his Quidditch hero status and his knightly Gryffindor ways, Severus knew it was all a front to piss the Slytherin's off trying to show them you could be pure without being a supremacist it was only to gain popularity which unfortunately it did. Then there was Sirius fucking Black with his windswept hair and his dazzling smile that made all the girls swan after him putting him on a pedestal like he owned the school, him as his pure blood family, his haughty good looks and his vicious attitude only made people like him more. Ah and what about Looney Loopy Lupin? Well he's much different to the others, better in some ways because he doesn't join in with their relentless bullying or immature behaviour but he never does anything to stop it, too cowardly in fact to stand up to his own best friends and too sickly looking to do anything about it anyway he seemed to be the only one who had any common sense. Last and certainly the very least of the bunch was pathetic little Peter Pettigrew, the tag along, the annoyance, the extra who brought the rest of the group down who strived to be in the same league as the other three but always failed miserably. Severus never really valued Pettigrew for anything more than a little fat rat whom was at James and Sirius' mercy, shame really.

Severus rolled his eyes and continued to add ingredients to his potion he had more pressing matter to attend to like what would be happening that very night. Last night they had all been talking excitedly about it, Avery had dug out his stolen stash of Veritaserum ready only making everything seem far more real. Although Severus never drank he wished that they would get hold of some form of alcohol to use but both Avery and Mulciber said it wouldn't be anywhere near as fun or humiliating if they weren't sober and in some ways Severus agreed.

Severus lifted the cauldron from the fire dropping the last few ingredients in he took up his vial and began to ladle it out. Corking the vial he named it and left it on Slughorn's desk clearing his things away with the rest of the class.

"Right everyone, make sure you take all your things with you don't leave anything behind, have a good weekend I will see you all on Monday" Slughorn said clapping his hands loudly his eyes scanning over the class.

Severus quickly shoved his things in his bag and was one of the first to leave the classroom not wanting to be left behind with the Marauders for his own safety.

After dinner that evening the six boys sat lounging in the common room by the fire being as loud and as silly as ever, behaving generally how teenage boys do. Severus sat beside Avery and Evan on one sofa with the other three sitting opposite, they waited until the common room had emptied out for a little while the other students going to bed before someone finally spoke.

"Alright then boys are you all ready for this?" Mulciber grinned rubbing his hands together eagerly.

"To hell I'm not but let's do it anyway" Wilkes chuckled.

"Regulus, you?" Mulciber stared at the younger black-haired boy.

"Yeah, sure why not?" Regulus said proudly, being a Black he wouldn't back down easily to a challenge he had to, of course, keep up appearances.

"What about you three?" he turned to Severus, Avery and Evan who all glanced at one another and nodded eagerly.

"That settles it, come on then" Mulciber said jumping to his feet, the others followed his lead quickly and they all headed up to the sixth years dormitory nervously laughing and exchanging worried glances.

"Right then, everyone take a seat in a circle on the rug" Avery instructed shutting the dormitory door tightly behind them.

"Alright there Evan, you look kinda worried?" Regulus smirked at the older boys expression.

"You wish, Black, I've got more bollocks than you any day" Rosier replied his voice changing higher in pitch as he spoke and the others started to laugh.

"Yeah, yeah we've all got bollocks now sit the fuck down and prepare yourselves" Avery laughed grabbing the bottles from his bedside table he moved over and dropped down between Mulciber and Regulus placing the little bottles in the centre of the rug. The room went very quiet as they all stared nervously at them, the three clear ones being the Veritaserum, the pink being the losers prize.

"So who starts?" Evan asked in a low voice glancing around the circle of boys.

"I will" Avery said clearing his throat. "Regulus" he turned to his left staring at the younger boy who flinched slightly. "Truth or dare?" he smirked.

Regulus looked thoughtful for a few moments before he replied simply "Truth"

"Okay, what is the very worst thing you've been caught doing in your house by someone?" Avery asked and they all leaned in expectantly.

Regulus was quiet for a few moments chewing on his bottom lip, Avery smirked and reached for a bottle of Veritaserum uncorking it and holding it up to the younger boy who looked very worried.

"No wait" Regulus said quickly holding up his hand stopping Avery from grabbing hold of him.

"Come on then tell us unless you want to be the first one out" Mulciber laughed and a pang of hope shot through Severus, if it was this easy to get people out he would no way lose.

"One time when I thought my parents and my brother were out, I went into Sirius' room and nicked a couple of his dirty magazines and went back to my own room" Regulus flushed a little.

"Go on" Avery coaxed.

"I was wanking and Sirius must have heard me, our rooms are the only two on the top floor of the house and as I said he must have heard me and went straight downstairs and made mum and dad come up with him" Regulus continued, taking a deep breath he exhaled slowly. "Then Sirius barges in and they walk in on me having a wank and mum went mad at Sirius for even having those magazines, but I didn't get in trouble for using them, my brother got the blame" Regulus flushed as a few sniggers rang around the circle.

"It was the most humiliating moment of my life"

"Might wanna hold that one back Regulus, the worst could be yet to come" Avery smirked. "Your turn"

"Okay, Evan, truth or dare?" Regulus asked turning his attention on the other boy.

"Dare" Evan shrugged a little trying to look as calm as possible.

"Alright, I dare you to go into one of the seventh year boys dorms and flash yourself off to them" Regulus smirked.

"Ooh mate good luck" Mulciber laughed clapping the smaller boy on the back.

Evan swallowed hard before a determined expression crossed his face. Getting slowly to his feet he made his way over to the door and disappeared.

The rest of the sat in eager silence, the door wide open listening intently for anything and finally... CRASH! followed by screaming and swearing from the older boys. Moments later Evan came hurrying back into the room slamming the door shut behind him his eyes wide and panting heavily.

The other five boys roared with laughter as he made his way back over to the rug and dropped back into his place his head in his hands.

"I can't believe you just did that" Wilkes laughed slapping his knees.

"Well believe it and I don't want to do it again, they're after my blood now" Evan wrinkled his nose but couldn't help smirking.

"Anyway, Snape truth or dare" Evan said quickly turning the attention to Severus, the laughter died out quickly.

"Truth"

"Okay we might need a bit of Veritaserum for this, but what is your sexuality?" Evan asked.

Severus stared hard at him his cheeks turning slightly pink and he looked away.

"Get the serum" Mulciber snapped his fingers as Evan made a grab for the bottle.

"Gay" Severus blurted out feeling himself go hot all over.

Nobody moved or said anything.

"What was that?" Wilkes asked curiously.

"I said I'm gay" Severus said hiding his crimson face in his hands trying to rid himself of the shame.

"Knew it" Regulus chuckled clapping his hands with excitement, Mulciber laughed and the others nodded.

"Fair enough" Avery said an odd expression washing over his face.

"Avery, truth or dare?" Severus asked with a smirk.

The game continued in this fashion for a good half hour and nobody had lost yet, Regulus had been dared to sneak into his own dormitory and steal all of his dorm mates underwear, come back and hide them in a bag which he did just fine after almost getting caught twice. Evan had been dared to lick the toilet seat clean and Wilkes had been dared to burst into the girls screaming his head off that Voldemort was coming, which he wasn't. In the process of all of this they had managed to use almost two bottles of Veritaserum, most of it on Regulus and Evan whom weren't so eager to share their dirty little secrets with the rest of them.

"Alright then Severus, truth or dare?" Mulciber smirked nastily and Severus hesitated a moment.

"Dare" he said simply.

"Take off all of your kit and streak through the castle until you run into Filch and tell him you're gagging for it" Mulciber said.

Severus' blood ran cold. "No" he said instantly.

A twinkle of excitement sparkled in Mulciber's cold eyes. "No? Are you sure about that Snape?" he said challengingly.

Severus didn't have much choice, either go ahead and do it, risk being expelled, humiliated and seen by more people than Filch including the portraits, prefects and Professors or lose their little game, which did he value more? His own dignity, his education and his body or a stupid bet and a quick shag?

Taking a deep breath he shook his head. "I'm not doing that it's far too much I could get expelled"

The other boy's faces lit up.

"First one down, one more to go!" Evan yelled banging his hand against the rug as the others all high fived one another. Severus on the other hand drew his knees up to his chest defensively.

Shit.

"Alright then my turn" Regulus said proudly. Severus watched nervously his mind buzzing with nerves and fear. "Avery, truth or dare?" Regulus asked excitedly.

"Dare me then, I can take this" Avery sniffed lifting his chin proudly.

"Make out with Mulciber for one minute, I'm timing" Regulus said pulling out his pocket watch.

Avery simply shrugged. "Easy" he said turning to his friend and gently holding Mulciber by the chin he leaned in without any hesitation and began to kiss him.

Severus' eyes widened as he watched his two friends kissing, Avery's tongue moving and rolling against Mulciber's as they kissed. It was actually quite... hot.

"Times up" Regulus called and both boys drew apart instantly.

"Right then, Mulciber truth or dare?" Avery asked turning to the boy he had just made out with acting as though it was an everyday occurrence.

"Truth"

"What did you think of that kiss?" Avery laughed and Mulciber looked like he was about to vomit.

"Gross beyond belief, still better than kissing a mud blood though" Mulciber gagged and Avery laughed slapping him on the back, he always knew how to upset people.

After this Regulus was dared to spill some dirty secret about his families inbreeding, Wilkes admitted to kissing a Muggle born Ravenclaw girl during the summer and ended up getting hexed for it as a punishment and now it went back to Avery.

"Truth or dare?" Mulciber asked his friend.

"Dare" Avery shrugged looking slightly paler than before a little nervous Severus would say.

"I dare you to take a stinging hex to the crotch" Mulciber grinned and Avery wrinkled his nose.

"Hell no, I'm not damaging the crown jewels"

Regulus, Wilkes and Evan all gasped.

"He's fucking out of it!" Evan laughed and Regulus gave a short cheer.

"Can't I have a different dare?" Avery asked casually but they all shook their heads.

"Nope, rules are rules" Wilkes laughed.

"Looks like you and Snape will be fucking tonight then" Mulciber grinned holding up the little pink bottle of potion in front of Avery who looked surprisingly calm about it all, Severus on the hand was almost trembling with nerves.

"Ha! Do we even need to carry this little game on then?" Evan asked brightly and the others shook their heads.

"What's the point? We all know I would clearly trounce the lot of you and anyway, our little losers here have some business to attend to" Mulciber said proudly flashing his sparkling white teeth at his friends.

"How do you know I wouldn't be the winner?" Regulus said gruffly, his Black pride surfacing again.

"Please, I've been giving you easy questions and dares because you can't handle the big boy stuff" Mulciber teased and Regulus looked furiously.

"Rosier is far more of a wimp than I am!" he protested pointing the accusing finger at his friend.

"Me? What about him?" Evan said harshly pointing to Wilkes.

"You're all winners, how about that?" Avery interrupted holding his hands up trying to silence the argument.

"Okay, but I'm still on top" Mulciber sniffed.

"Yeah that's what Avery will be saying tonight" Regulus commented and the rest of them burst out laughing, Severus buried his face in his arms resting on top of his knees trying to hide his shame.

"Oh mate, looks like we'll leave you to it then, you know put the hand in the glove" Mulciber grinned getting to his feet.

"They key in the lock" Regulus said following his friend over to the door.

"The snake in the hole" Evan grinned.

"Good luck boys" Mulciber waved shutting the door behind them.

They waited in silence until they heard the others footsteps die away, slowly they both turned their heads and sat staring across the room at one another.

It was Avery who spoke first breaking the silence. "Soo, I guess we should umm?" he said holding up the little bottle of pink potion.

"I guess we should" Severus said nervously as they both slowly got to their feet, Severus was trying not to show the nerves he was feeling.

"Shall we?" Avery said nodding towards Severus' bed which was on closest one of the two. Severus swallowed hard and nodded moving over towards his bed he sat down on the edge with Avery next to him fingering the little bottle through his hands.

"How does this work then?" Severus nodded to it trying to calm himself down.

"Basically you take it and it creates a woman's thing behind your balls, we checked gay couples use it to spice up their sex lives and women use it for sexual enhancement and fertility problems too mainly when they get older, the effects should wear off after a couple of days it is perfectly safe to use" Avery shrugged slightly handing it to Severus who took it shakily and examined it.

"Okay then, well, at least we're of age!"

"Should we umm, you know take our clothes off and get prepared?" Avery asked nervously gazing at Severus who nodded slowly.

They got to their feet, both blushing as they slowly began to remove their clothes, their shirts fell to the ground a mixture or white and black along with their shoes, school tie and belts. Severus' face was on fire as he watched Avery open his trousers and drop them to the floor with the rest of his clothes, Severus continued to watch as Avery pushed his navy baggy boxers shorts down to his ankles and stepped out of them before he quickly dropped his own feeling the heated blush spreading to the tips of his ears.

He looked up at Avery whose face mirrored the same expression and he nodded to the bed. Severus watched as Avery made his way around the other side of Severus' bed climbing on he lay himself on his side comfortably gazing up at the other boy his hazel eyes wide.

Severus swallowed hard and closed his eyes in a long slow blink before he uncorked the top of the little bottle and stared at the contents for a few seconds, he had to be out of his mind but a deal was a deal and he had lost the game. Taking a deep breath he put the end of the bottle to his lips and downed the contents quickly, surprisingly it tasted rather nice, much like strawberries. Dropping the bottle onto the bedside table he turned to stare at Avery.

Severus chewed the inside of his bottom lip biting back a soft moan as he gazed at his friend, Avery was every bit as well built as Severus had glimpsed when the boy was changing, slender well build torso with soft brown areola's and small nipples, his whole body was lightly toned with his long dark hair framing his face his warm eyes gazing at Severus as the other boys eyes moved lower over Avery's sharp hip bones down to the little dark nest of hair around the base of his long thick member to his heavy pump pink balls hanging beneath and his thin slender legs sprawled on Severus' bed. Severus felt the first stirrings of arousal his member giving a sharp twitch and a flow of blood descending through his own body when a sharp pain brought him back to his senses.

Severus gasped clutching his stomach as another pain shot through his system his skin was crawling and he started to sweat lightly feeling himself growing hot and uncomfortable.

"Severus?" Avery asked worriedly as Severus rested his hands on the bedside table taking deep breathed his eyes clenched shut. "Are you alright?" he asked again.

Severus nodded slowly as the pain began to ebb away, the discomfort leaving his system and he opened his eyes to stare into Avery's worried face.

"I'm fine, that just really hurt" he replied swallowing hard and moving to lie beside Avery on the bed.

"I guess it would I mean it is creating something inside of you" Avery replied nervously.

The two boys lay in silence staring at one another awkwardly, neither knowing what to say or do.

"Do you want to masturbate?" Avery asked nervously.

"Okay" Severus breathed closing his eyes, he jumped and let out a small yelp as Avery's hand trailed lightly along his slender side moving gently over his hip it caressed the inside of Severus' thighs.

Severus cracked his eyes open reaching out nervously he trailed his fingers in circles around Avery's torso moving carefully down to his stomach and descending at a snail's pace lower towards the other boys crotch.

Severus let out a sigh as Avery's hand curled around his member giving it a few gentle tugs he was surprised at how quickly his body reacted hardening quickly under Avery's touch, who could blame him? Avery was incredibly hot, kind and funny and he was touching Severus in ways he had only touched himself.

"Someone's eager" Avery chuckled and Severus blushed furiously as Avery reached up and pulled the curtains closed around the bed blocking out some of the light.

Severus wrapped his hand carefully around the other boy's member and began to stroke it feeling it harden as he traced his thumb over the tip gently pulling back the other boys foreskin so he could swipe his thumb properly over the sensitive glans. Avery gasped giving Severus' member a firm tug and Severus groaned in pleasure.

Severus couldn't believe it, he was being touched and touching another boy, one of his friends. Severus let out a soft moan and closing his eyes and biting his bottom lip.

"Are you ready?" Avery asked in a low husky voice that sent shivers down Severus' spine. He opened his onyx eyes slowly Avery was propped up leaning over him a little his hand fell away from Severus' throbbing leaking erection.

"I'm ready" Severus nodded. He exhaled slowly as Avery gently rolled him onto his back moving down his body a little he spread Severus' legs and lay between them. Severus was trembling with nerves he blinked slowly up at his dark haired friend unsure of what to do feeling very nervous.

He gasped feeling Avery press the tip of his member against the new opening and swallowed hard blinking slowly up at the boy.

"Are you okay? You seem very worked up" Avery frowned slightly.

"I'm fine, I'm just nervous I haven't done anything like this before" Severus swallowed hard feeling that familiar blush creeping up his neck.

"Aw" Avery smiled. "Are you ready?" he asked shaking slightly and Severus nodded quickly shutting his eyes.

As Avery began to gently push himself inside, Severus' eyes snapped open at the sensation, it felt strange, not painful just odd but it felt good and he moaned.

"Does it hurt?" Avery asked his eyes wide his lips parted slightly as he pushed himself halfway inside and stopped allowing Severus to get used to the feeling not wanting to hurt him.

"No, no it feels quite nice" Severus panted a little relaxing himself into the covers. Avery moved down lying almost completely on top of him one arm resting at either side of Severus' head. "You?"

"Nah it feels good" Avery breathed his cheeks tinted with arousal and slowly he began to move his hips. Severus bit back a moan that threatened to escape feeling Avery sliding back and forth inside of him.

Severus moaned as Avery picked up his pace slightly, spreading his legs he felt Avery slide deeper inside of him thrusting back and forth at a quicker pace.

Avery groaned softly reaching back and running a hand up Severus' left thigh giving it a gentle squeeze and thrusting harder inside the other boy.

Severus gasped and moaned his hands shooting up to grab Avery's shoulders as he arched his back a little spreading his legs further he shifted his hips rocking in time with Avery's movements. By now the other boy was moaning repeatedly panting and thrusting himself grinding into Severus making him gasp with pleasure. Who knew it could feel so good?

Avery quickened his pace again thrusting harder into his friend moaning with pleasure. Severus thrust his head back against the pillows lifting his legs up and wrapping them around Avery's waist enjoying the powerful sensations of each rough thrust.

The air was filled with their loud gasps and moans, Avery's pace began hard and fast thrusting roughly and quickly into the other boy.

"Severus..." he breathed feeling that warmth spreading through his nether regions, he pressed himself harder against Severus' body his thrusts becoming harder again.

Severus was moaning, gasping, almost shouting with pleasure as Avery continued to pound into him his stomach rubbing against Severus' aching member.

"I-I'm gonna..." Avery breathed, a hoarse cry escaped his lips and with one, two, three more thrusts he buried himself balls deep inside Severus' new entrance spurting what felt to Severus like a fountain of cum inside of him.

That was all Severus could take and he came hard in thick white ribbons between their stomachs with a short loud cry.

Gasping for breath, Avery collapsed on top of Severus still inside him his face buried in Severus' neck feeling dazed and tired.

Severus swallowed blinking slowly up at the canopy over the bed he panted for breath, he had never felt anything like that before in his life. He winced slightly as Avery slowly withdrew his softening member lifting himself up a little to meet Severus' gaze.

"Severus..." Avery breathed his eyes wide his cheeks flushed with arousal. Severus blinked up at him slowly still relishing from his orgasm.

For a moment nobody said anything they just lay there their breathing returning to normal gazing into each other's eyes. Severus swallowed hard his eyes flickered down to Avery's lips and back up again, a warm feeling balling in the pit of his stomach, he wanted to kiss him.

Slowly Avery sat himself up beginning to move off. "The others will be up soon, I guess we should get into bed" he swallowed shaking slightly.

"Yeah I guess we should" Severus said unable to stop himself from feeling slightly disappointed.

He watched as Avery reached for his underwear pulling them on quickly he got to his feet holding the drapes open, he turned back to look at Severus.

Severus on the other hand buried himself underneath his covers sparing one last glance at Avery before pulling them up over his head shielding the light.

It remained like that for almost a minute before Avery closed the curtain over plunging Severus back into the very dim lighting.

Severus listened to the rustling of clothing as Avery gathered his things up then his footsteps moving over to the bed a few feet away and then the springs of the mattress sinking beneath the other boy's weight.

They lay there in silence apart from the odd shuffle of Avery getting into bed and closing his bed curtains, twenty minutes later and the dormitory door opened and the other's crept in.

That night Severus lay awake in bed, he didn't know how to feel. On one hand he felt brilliant, the intercourse felt great, he had been touched by another person, made to feel good, Avery had touched him and fucked him and he enjoyed every moment of it, the feel of the other boys hands on him, his penis inside of him it was wonderful new waves of sensation washed over him on the other hand he felt dirty and cheap, fucked and forgotten. It had all been because he lost, however Severus knew that if it had been with any of the others he wouldn't have enjoyed it and he would most certainly not feel the same. Yes Severus knew for a while now he felt an attraction towards the raven haired Slytherin boy with the warm hazel eyes and his bright cheery laugh, he felt things that went deeper than just friendship and tonight had been an amazing chance for him he just felt so disappointed he hadn't even gotten one small kiss.

Sighing Severus closed his eyes and buried himself further into his nest of blankets, he allowed himself to drift off into a comfortable sleep with no idea of what the next few weeks would have in store for him...


	2. Chapter 2

It was the next morning and Severus awoke snuggled up under his bed covers alone. He blinked several times before rubbing his tired eyes and yawned, the events of last night came flooding back into his mind.

He had slept with Avery.

Rolling onto his back he stared up at the canopy listening to his friends laughing and moving around outside his curtain getting dressed and what not, he just couldn't face them first thing, not now, not after yesterday.

It was a good half an hour later that the dormitory door clicked shut and Severus finally decided to get out of bed. He didn't want to face them first thing especially not after last night what with all the questions, the teasing and oh god, it wasn't as if Severus didn't enjoy it he was moaning the whole way through and spreading his legs for his friend without question.

With a long loud sigh, Severus pulled open his curtains, grabbed a fresh pair of underwear, slipping them on he climbed out of bed. How could he even look Avery in the eye after what happened between them, in a way he was really happy about it, on the other hand he was worried it might have ruined or at least tainted their friendship. Severus had been hoping things would escalate a bit more between them but after last night he wasn't so sure that Avery would be thinking the same thing.

He groaned fumbling into his trunk pulling out some plain black Muggle jeans and a navy hoodie. How could he have been so stupid, Avery wouldn't want him, he was not gay and even if he was surely Avery would have kissed him, why just that same evening Severus had admitted he liked boys if Avery felt the same he would have kissed him, right?

No that was too much to ask, Severus shook his head his long ebony longs swinging like curtains around his pale thin face. Even if Avery did like blokes why on earth would he go for skinny, pallid, greasy Severus Snape of all of them, he was a good looking boy he could do so much better.

Sighing Severus pulled on his clothes promising himself he would try not to think any more about it and put the whole situation behind him in hopes it would go away.

A few minutes later he was washed and ready, slipping on his shoes he made his way over to the dormitory door and left taking a fairly slow pace down into the common room.

He glanced up as he entered his friends must have already gone down to the great hall for breakfast. Great. He looked around the common room at the group of second year girls sitting by the fire gossiping, a pair of sixth year boys sitting messing around with something in a box and a first year with his nose buried in some random book.

Severus completely ignored them and made his way into the cool dungeon corridor. Walking out into the entrance hall he overheard something that almost made him laugh.

"Have you seen that little Rosier prick?" an older boy said angrily to three of his friends who shook their heads.

"The fourth year?" the smallest boy of the group with short dark brown hair and cold grey eyes asked.

"Yeah him"

"No why, what's he done?" the third boy with long flaming red hair asked.

"He's that little tosser that ran into the dorm last night and flashed us" the other boy said angrily.

"When you catch him, hex his bollocks off for me" the red head replied.

Severus forced the laugh down as he made his way into the great hall, looking over at the Slytherin table his friends were all talking and laughing amongst themselves as usual. Taking a deep nervous breath, Severus made his way over and dropped down into a seat beside Mulciber without making eye contact with any of them.

"Finally got out of your pit then?" Wilkes asked chewing on a slice of bacon.

"I'm not that late, only a few minutes behind you" Severus wrinkled his nose and reached for a slice of toast.

"Aw did last night's little fumble tire you out?" Wilkes pouted playfully and a few of the others boys laughed.

Severus shot him a nasty death glare, his cheeks beating with heat. He had to think fast to avoid this situation.

"By the way Evan, some of those boys you flashed off last night are out in the entrance hall looking for you" he said clearly turning his attention on the smaller boy. The smirk immediately disappeared off of Evan's face.

"What?"

"Yeah one of them said to 'hex your bollocks off'" Severus quoted with a nasty smirk the others looked rather excited by this.

"Ooh Evan you are in trouble now" Avery laughed clapping him roughly on the back.

The rest of the conversation passed casually with no more mentions of last night, Severus still refused to meet anyone's gaze or even look in Avery's direction.

For the rest of the day they spent messing around in the common room talking and laughing and in the others case, play fighting. Severus sat perched on the sofa reading through his potions text book. When any of his friends had spoken to him that day it had been normal, even now when they were playfully shouting abuse at one another and calling each other names just for fun.

'I can do this' Severus thought to himself watching as Mulciber wrestled Regulus to the ground pining him face down into the rug.

"Who's the little man now, Reggie?" Mulciber teased and Evan cheered at them as Regulus struggled being pinned face down to the ground.

"Get off me you faggot" Regulus spat kicking out with his legs and trying to flail with his arms like an angry cat.

"I'm not gay, Regulus and I think you should watch your mouth let's not forget your friend is gay" Mulciber said and Regulus froze for a moments before continuing his struggle for freedom.

"Sorry Snape" he called.

"It's fine" Severus replied watching as finally Regulus managed to break free of Mulciber's hold and tackled him onto the other sofa.

Severus jumped slightly when someone flopped down into the seat beside him.

"Alright, Severus?" Avery asked casually, Severus couldn't control the fiery blush that spread over his cheeks.

"Yes thank you, how are you?" he mumbled burying his nose back in his text book.

"I'm fine thanks" Avery replied staring at Severus. He looked incredibly tense and nervous sitting there like that as though he was frightened of him, or perhaps he was ashamed of what happened last night he sure didn't seem to want to even look at Avery today. Avery sighed and turned his attention back to his fighting friends perhaps Severus just needed a little time to let it all sink in he was always a quiet boy and Avery knew he was far more sensitive than he ever made out to be.

About six weeks had passed and everything seemed relatively normal, lessons carried on as usual and the Marauders carried on as usual. Severus spent increasing amount of time with his friends, although he still hadn't really spoken to Avery and even when he knew the boy would be alone he was still too frightened to approach. Although he tried never to show too much emotion or nerves around the boy he could sense that Avery was feeling slightly off with him, a little wary or irritated, Severus couldn't quite put his finger on it.

It was one morning in the second week of October when Severus awoke very early a horrible pang in his stomach. He opened his eyes slowly and groaned.

"Not again" he whispered taking some long, slow deep breaths willing the horrible nausea to go away.

A horrible pang flashed through him and Severus flung the covers back, pushed through his curtains a hand clamped over his mouth as he dashed for the bathroom, slamming the door shut behind him he threw himself at the toilet and vomited harshly into the basin until he dry heaved painfully.

Severus groaned dropping to his knees beside the dormitory toilet clutching his churning stomach. He had woken up every morning for little over a week now having to rush to the bathroom to throw up.

Feeling another wave of nausea washing over him, Severus leaned forward and vomited into the toilet coughing and spluttering through a mouthful of sick.

At first he put it down to maybe a little food poisoning, the first day it happened it had shocked him as it came on so suddenly and even though he refused to take the day off he felt rotten all day, he ached all over but by night time he was feeling alright again just tired. It happened again a few days after, every morning he would throw up for around an hour before getting into bed for a few minutes warming himself back up before he got dressed and went to lessons without any breakfast.

Now Severus was beginning to think that maybe he had a stomach bug like the Norovirus, or perhaps a stomach ulcer or maybe even an allergy to something he was eating but at the moment the mere thought of food was enough to have him bent over the toilet basin.

He reached out shakily, tearing off a piece of toilet tissue he wiped his mouth and flushed the toilet getting slowly to his feet he made his way over to the sink, clutching it in his hands he gazed at his sorrow reflection in the mirror.

He looked dreadful.

His long ebony hair was hanging limp and lifeless around his pallid, almost grey skin, his eyes were dull and he had faint dark circles appearing under his eyes. Wincing in disgust at himself, he rinsed out the cup on the ledge above the sink, filled it with water and rinsed his mouth out unable to use mouthwash as every time he put it to his lips he would gag or vomit.

Swilling his mouth out and spitting into the sink, he rinsed it round and washed his hands before traipsing back into the dormitory in his long grey nightshirt clutching his stomach.

"Don't tell me you've been sick again" Mulciber yawned as he climbed out of bed.

"Alright then, I won't tell you about it" Severus grumbled climbing back into bed he picked up his wand and pointed it to the little goblet on his bedside table. "Aguamenti" he mumbled and it filled with water.

"Whatever you're eating you really need to stop" Mulciber wrinkled his nose as he pulled on his school trousers.

"I haven't been eating that much and I don't know what's making me this ill I feel like shite" Severus replied relaxing into his bedding.

"Maybe you should take a day off, you look awful" Avery said from the next bed over staring at Severus a worried expression on his face.

"No I'll be okay I just need a few minutes to settle my stomach" Severus yawned closing his eyes.

"You can barely keep your eyes open mate, you're worn out" Avery said again.

"Why don't you just let us cover for you, we'll tell the teachers that you aren't very well and decided to stay in bed" Mulciber suggested as Evan got out of bed.

"You're gonna make yourself worse if you don't get some rest" Evan yawned stretching himself upwards.

Severus was quiet for a few moments pondering on this. He did feel awful, he was exhausted, aching, he felt sick and he could hardly eat anything. Maybe it wouldn't hurt if he just took one day off.

"Alright, thanks" he mumbled his eyes still closed.

"No problem" Mulciber yawned as he continued to pull on his clothes.

Fifteen minutes later, after a few squabbles, the boys left the dormitory to go down for breakfast, apart from Severus.

"See you later Snape" Mulciber waved.

"Yeah, stay in bed" Evan called following his friend from the room.

"If you need anything let us know, we'll bring you something up at lunch time if you want" Avery said lingering awkwardly in the doorway.

"That would be nice, thank you" Severus replied.

"Feel better soon, Severus" Avery said gently before closing the door behind him.

Severus yawned, feeling another horrible pang of nausea in his gut, he threw back his covers with a whine he headed straight for the bathroom.

Mid-morning arrived and Severus was thankful he had finally stopped vomiting, he sat up in bed sipping at his water feeling tired and grumpy. What on Earth was making him so ill? It wasn't like he was even doing anything to trigger it, Severus Snape was never ill so when he did become sick he knew that there was something wrong.

Frowning he thought back to what he had eaten the day before. Just after lunch time he had a plate of plain hot chips, for dinner he had a salad and some toast as a snack, things he usually ate and nothing that could upset his stomach. It was strange he hadn't really been eating enough of anything to make him so ill. Shaking his head he rested the goblet back on the bedside table and buried himself under his covers making himself warm and comfortable hoping it would just pass.

By the time lunch time came around, Severus was fast asleep. Even when Avery, Mulciber and Evan came back in he was still sleeping soundly.

"Just leave it on the bedside table, we can stay up here for a bit see if he wakes up" Mulciber gestured lazily to Severus' bedside.

Avery moved over and rested the plate of chips and mashed potato down along with a jug of pumpkin juice in case he fancied something with a bit more flavour. He couldn't help but look down at Severus, his eyes closed, those impossibly long black lashes casting shadows across his pale cheeks, his hair flopping in front of his face a little and his small pink lips parted slightly as he breathed.

Reaching out he gently brushed Severus' hair from his face as Severus' eyes fluttered open at the small amount of contact.

Severus jumped and yelped sitting bolt upright in bed and Avery snatched his hand away staring worriedly at him. Mulciber and Evan had looked up from what they were doing to watch the scene.

"You scared me" Severus breathed a hand resting on his own forehead as he flopped back down against the pillows.

"Sorry, we umm, brought you something to eat and some juice" Avery said pointing to the things on the bedside table.

"Thank you, I'm feeling a little better this afternoon I just feel a bit weird" Severus replied.

"Not been sick at all since we left?" Mulciber asked from across the room.

"Actually after you left I was quite violently sick for a while but it calmed down and I've been asleep for about two hours" Severus yawned.

"I think you're probably just over tired, if you feel better after sleep then that will be it" Avery said again moving to sit on his own bed.

"Probably, guess I should have taken a day off sooner" Severus chuckled nestling himself back into his covers.

"You'll be alright soon just give it some time" Evan smiled.

Two weeks had passed and Severus was feeling no better, it had been just over three weeks since he had started feeling unwell and there hadn't been much change.

As usual he woke up to the same horrible pang in his stomach, throwing back the covers he reached for the well placed bucket at the side of his bed, pulling it onto his lip he sat leaning into it waiting to be sick.

Moments later he coughed hard and vomited into the bucket emptying his meagre stomach contents out, the horrible taste of bile rising into his mouth and he spat bitterly into the bucket.

"Don't tell me you're still being sick?" Avery asked rolling onto his side and propping himself up on one elbow to look at Severus.

"Unfortunately, I am" Severus shuddered placing the bucket down by the side of the bed again and reaching for his goblet of water.

"I reckon it's probably a flu bug, you've had it a couple of weeks now and it is November so it could be" Mulciber commented from across the room.

"It's a little out of season for flu but yeah it might be" Severus sipped at his water.

"Why don't you go and see Madame Pomfrey?" Avery suggested and Severus sniffed.

"I might do, maybe she can give me something to help with the sickness" Severus replied.

"Yeah and find out what's wrong with you, I mean, it can' be good for you to be throwing up that much I hear it can wreck your stomach lining and your teeth" Evan wrinkled his nose a little pulling on his school jumper and fastening his tie.

"Yeah it's funny because I've felt different these past couple of days" Severus' brows furrowed in confusion.

"What do you mean?" Mulciber asked curiously dressing himself.

"I've been feeling better by lunch time just tired, then in the evenings I've felt completely drained and had to go to sleep and not woken up until the morning, I've been a bit achy in my lower back, I think I might have a water infection or something I keep needing to pee" Severus flushed slightly at the comment.

"Thanks for sharing" Mulciber cringed.

"I heard you up at least five times in the night going to the toilet" Evan chuckled. "Stop drinking so much water"

"I'm peeing loads so I'm drinking a lot to compensate for it and it's making me pee even more, I don't want to get dehydrated" Severus snapped swinging his legs over the side of the bed and getting shakily to his feet.

"Yeah not to mention you're up and down all over the place, one minute you seem quite happy the next you look like you've had the dementors kiss, what's going on with you?" Evan replied warily.

"No idea, lack of sleep maybe? I'll have to ask Madame Pomfrey when I go" Severus yawned pulling off his nightshirt and grabbing for his clothes.

"Are you going today?" Avery asked running a comb through his hair, propping a mirror up between his knees and fiddling around with it like he does every morning for goodness knows how long.

"No, not today maybe in a few days or something if I don't feel any better" Severus yawned pulling on his school shirt and buttoning it quickly, he reached for his trousers and pulled them up frowning noticing they were a little smaller on him, not much just a little enough to notice but not cause any discomfort.

"Fair enough, your choice" Mulciber shrugged.

Half an hour later they were all washed, dressed and ready to go, even Avery had just about finished combing his hair into perfection. They left the dormitory in a group, Severus' stomach still wasn't feeling brilliant but he had to get going otherwise his work load would end up getting on top of him and that would spoil the whole idea of getting homework done as quickly as possible.

Out in the entrance hall Severus stopped dead in his tracks warily eyeing the entrance to the great hall lots of students were filing in to.

"Whoa, I'm going to skip breakfast and head off up to the library for a little while and catch up on some homework, my stomach doesn't feel too ripe" Severus said gesturing towards the staircases.

"Sure, see you later" Mulciber shrugged as the rest of them turned and headed into the great hall, Severus caught sight of Avery looking back over his shoulder at Severus a genuinely concerned look on his face.

Severus sighed and headed over to the stairs making his way up slowly. Now he was alone it gave him more of a chance to think about things, things other than being ill or his homework more personal matters. It had been two months since he had spent the night with Avery and neither of them had even mentioned it. Severus admittedly was growing more comfortable around Avery again but every time he looked into those warm soft eyes he was reminded of that night together and it hurt, it hurt to think that Avery hadn't mentioned anything about it that he didn't seem overly interested in what was going on, if anything between them. They were just friends that was all, and Severus had to learn to accept that.

He made his way along the corridor and into the empty library, Madame Pince didn't even look up when he entered, she never minded Severus so much because he was always quiet and well behaved unlike some of the students there.

He made his way over to the back, dropping down in his usual seat he pulled his things from his bag grimacing at the horrible churning sensation in his stomach. Why wouldn't this all just go away and he could be better again, at least it would be one less thing to worry about.

Severus opened his Transfiguration text book, flipped to the right back and began reading through the chapter on animal transfiguration for fourth years. It was one of those subjects he had a small amount of interest in but wasn't overly keen on he wasn't sure why but it had never taken a massive amount of his interest even though he was one of the best in the class at it, maybe he disliked it so because Sirius Black took the dominant space during those lessons and that angered him more. Severus loved to think of himself as far more intellectually gifted and talented than any of the Marauders, well he knew he was easily better than Pettigrew at everything in fact so was almost everyone they could wipe the floor with him, but Potter was the best at flying, Lupin with Defence against the Dark Arts and Black at Transfiguration. Still, Severus smirked to himself, he had better let them have something to be good at, after all, Severus was superior to them any way they were just pathetic little bullies with nothing better to do, the arrogant little berks.

Yawning, Severus reached down scratching the inside of his thigh, his hand moved up a little to scratch his balls and moved back a little scratching through his trousers when his finger caught across something that made him jump.

His dark eyes widened considerably as he stared down at his lap.

Shit.

Severus chewed on his bottom lip for a few moments there was something there, something he could feel part of his skin that should not have been there. He swallowed hard suddenly feeling sick with worry he shakily packed his things back into his bag and got to his feet.

Without looking up, his mind buzzing he hurried out of the library and along the corridor into the boy's toilets. Checking nobody was in there he headed into a cubicle and locked the door behind him hanging his bag on the back of the door he stood shaking and chewing his bottom lip.

Taking a deep breath he pulled down his trousers and his underwear, reaching into his bag he pulled out a small hand mirror he kept on him for if he was using it to look round corners when out alone at night in case he ran into anyone he didn't want to meet. He shoved it between his legs and closed his eyes for a few moments before dropping his gaze and he gasped.

Oh... OH!

Now that definitely shouldn't be there. Severus felt sick and faint at the sight of it, behind his testicles there was that opening and from what he knew of the female anatomy which admittedly was only limited to a few pictures in books during sex education last year but it did feel pretty similar.

Severus tucked the mirror back into his bag, replaced his clothing and leaned back against the door closing his eyes, he had to try and remember what Avery said about that potion.

"The effects would wear off after a few days" Severus breathed. "It's been two months and that _thing _ is still there" he added chewing his bottom lip nervously, something had to be wrong this couldn't be right if it was supposed to go away after a couple of days and it is still there after two months then something must have gone terribly wrong.

'Library!' Severus thought to himself grabbing hold of his bag, he froze. He couldn't research the potion if he didn't know the name of it and oh god what would it look like if he went to Avery or Mulciber now and asked, would they think he was after more or wanted to do it again? What if there was something seriously wrong with him, no he didn't want anyone to know about this it was his body. He may not know the name of the potion but he could go and search it up.

He flung open the door and made his way over to the sinks to wash his hands. "What's the point, I could spend all day in there and not find anything the library is huge and besides what are the chances of the school having a book on that particular unknown potion, even if they did it would probably be in the restricted section" he said quietly to himself gazing at his pallid, dull reflection in the mirror. Sure he could probably get a teacher to sign a note for it but they needed to sign for a particular book or reason and he couldn't very well ask Professor Slughorn for something like _that_ it would seem far too suspicious and not to mention humiliating, no, Severus couldn't do that either.

A horrible dawning thought crossed his mind. What if his illness had something to do with it, he was after all getting worse and what if it was all interlinked and something terrible was happening to him if it was killing him, or making him seriously ill, or infected or something. Endless horrific ideas ran through Severus' mind in the end he decided there was only one logical and sensible explanation to this problem, he would have to go and see Madame Pomfrey.

Taking a deep breath, Severus made his way out of the toilets and along the corridor towards the stair cases. He had never actually been to see Madame Pomfrey properly since he started, they knew who one another were but he had never been ill enough to need any treatment.

Severus was terrified as he walked out into the staircases making his way towards the hospital wing. What if it was something life threatening or something extremely serious? Maybe he was just being silly it could be anything might not even be related, just a stomach virus, yeah, that's it.

Severus was trembling as he walked along the corridor towards the hospital wing, he stopped outside staring at the door handle nervously shifting from one foot to the other. Closing his eyes in a long slow blink, Severus pushed open the door and stepped inside closing it behind him. He moved through the archway stepping properly into the large clean room, it was much warmer in there than in the corridor a small fire was burning in the right hand corner of the room. Rows and rows of immaculate snowy white beds sat neatly all in order on either side of the room, a curtain rail and a set of bedside tables by each one.

"Can I help you young man?" Madame Pomfrey's voice brought Severus back to attention and he stared at her nervously.

"Oh I haven't been feeling well at all lately and I'm getting a bit worried about it" Severus said nervously as the nurse gestured him to follow her. They walked silently to the other side of the room to the last bed by the back wall and she nodded for him to sit down.

"Now, what seems to be the trouble... Mister Snape is it?" she asked with a slight frown and he nodded.

"Well for just over three weeks now I've been really sick especially in the mornings, I have been extremely tired, nauseous, achy and feeling a bit all over the place" he began sitting up on the bed nervously fidgeting his hands in his lap.

"How have your eating and sleeping patterns been?"

"They haven't been too bad, it just started one morning I had been feeling a bit weird for a few days or so and then one morning I just woke up with a really strong urge to throw up, and It's happened every morning since and sometimes during the day but I'm usually alright by lunch, sometimes I feel sick all day and I just feel so tired, by evening I've been falling asleep and some days I haven't woken up until the next morning" Severus explained nervously. "I haven't been eating too much because I've been so sick but I have had things like salad and just plain food, sometimes I have dry crackers which seem to help"

Madame Pomfrey stared at him for a few moments. "Alright and have you had any trouble with anything else?"

"I think it may be a flu bug I'm not sure but I keep needing to urinate I even wake up during the night sometimes, I have been drinking plenty because I've been going to the toilet so much" he said quickly.

"It does seem a bit odd, are you under a lot of stress or are any of the other boys you share a dormitory with sick with similar symptoms or have been ill?" she asked but he shook his head.

"No only me"

"Right well what I can do is check your heart, your temperature, blood pressure and things and then we can see about a blood test just to check that everything is normal and-"

"Madame Pomfrey?" Severus interrupted nervously.

"Yes Mister Snape" she nodded looking down into the young boys worried face.

"I-I'm also really worried about something else" he swallowed hard.

"And what might that be?" the nurse asked quickly.

Severus sat quietly for a little while taking a deep breath he began to speak. "About two months ago when term first started, my friends and I were playing this game of truth or dare and two of my friends had found this potion which we all agreed that the two losers who dropped out of the game first, one would take the potion and it was to create an opening behind his..." Severus gestured wildly to his crotch.

"Testicles?"

Severus nodded blushing awkwardly before he continued. "Yeah, those, and the two losers would have to sleep together using it, I umm lost and took the potion I was so stupid and I slept with my friend" he said burying his face in his hands trying to hide the obvious shame written all over his face.

"I see..." Madame Pomfrey said suddenly looking very worried.

"It was a really stupid idea, I went along with it because I didn't want to be proven an idiot or make myself look bad in front of them, my friend said the effects would wear off after two days but they haven't I just found out a little while ago it's still there and I'm really scared, maybe I'm just being stupid but could it have something to do with why I've been so ill recently?" Severus asked looking up at the nurse a terrified expression written on his face.

"Severus, please calm down it won't do you any good to get worked up about it, what I am going to do is to take a blood and urine sample I can analyse it now while you wait and we will find out what is going on but I'm sure it is nothing life threatening" she said and Severus nodded slowly.

He watched as she made her way across the room over to the cabinet unlocking one of the drawers she pulled out several items dropping them into a metal tin, washed her hands and made her way back over to him.

"If you could remove your cloak and roll up your sleeve for me I can do the blood and then we can do the urine test" she said and Severus obeyed quickly shrugging off his cloak he yanked up the sleeve of his left arm's shirt exposing his skin.

Snapping on a pair of latex gloves, the nurse opened a fresh packet of a sterile needle and syringe and carefully wiped the area on Severus' arm clean. "Take a nice deep breath in for me" she said before pushing the needle into his skin. Severus winced in pain and looked away as she drew some of the blood from his arm before removing it quickly and putting a tiny plaster over the area, she capped the needle and placed it carefully in the tin.

"There, now take this into the bathroom an urinate into it, once you are finished bring it back to me" she instructed picking up a clear plastic pot and handing it to the boy just as he finished pulling down his sleeve again.

Severus hopped off of the bed feeling very worried as he made his way across the room over into the toilet closing the door behind him.

Opening his trousers he pulled himself out, took the lid off of the pot and began to urinate in it filling it quickly he finished into the toilet, replaced the lid on the pot before flushing the toilet and tucking himself away. He turned nervously and placed the little pot on the ledge above the sink before he washed his hands thoroughly, took the pot and left the toilet in a rush.

Madame Pomfrey was still waiting for him when he approached the bed again just across the room, handing her the pot she placed it in the little metal tin along with the other items.

"Make yourself comfortable I'll be back in a little while, there's some fresh water in the jug there" she nodded towards the jug of iced water sitting on the bedside table as Severus hopped back up onto the bed.

"Thank you" he said as she turned and carried the thing into the backroom leaving Severus sitting there alone.

Severus sat fidgeting nervously on the bed unsure of what to do, he momentarily thought about reading through one of his books but he knew full well he wouldn't have the concentration at the present moment.

A thousand thoughts were running through Severus' mind, what was wrong with him? Why did Madame Pomfrey want to do so many tests just to see if he was okay, better to be safe than sorry. Severus fidgeted nervously staring down at his lap. Madame Pomfrey did say it was nothing life threatening, did she already have an idea what it would be.

Severus' ears were ringing his mind hazy he didn't even hear Madame Pomfrey coming back into the room until she stopped in front of him.

"Severus?" she asked gently and he jumped.

"I have your test results here, I tested three times just to be sure of my results and I think you'd ought to be lying down to here this" she said gently as a look of horror washed over Severus' face.

"W-what's wrong with me?" he swallowed hard panic rising in his chest.

"Please just lie back and try to relax" she said gesturing him to move backwards.

Slowly Severus moved up and lay properly on the bed propped up against the headboard with the over fluffed stack of crisp white pillows.

"Now Severus, I don't want this to alarm you but during the testing I checked for several different things" she began and Severus tensed nervously.

"Is it something serious, am I going to be okay?" he asked quickly searching her face.

"You will be fine yes, it isn't something serious to your health no but please let me finish" she replied calmly and he nodded.

"As I was saying, during the testing I checked to make sure everything was okay, you are a very healthy boy Severus I couldn't detect any form of virus or anything that may be causing you to be so sick, however, seeing as you mentioned the intercourse via use of that potion and your symptoms I also tested for something else" she said slowly looking him straight in the eye. "I found a kind of chemical hormone known as Human Chorionic Gonadotropin, HCG for short, in high levels, now this is only found in one situation"

Severus swallowed hard his mouth going dry his heart hammering in his chest.

"Congratulations Severus, you're going to have a baby" she smiled gently.

Severus felt as though the room was spinning, he felt dazed and confused. Unsure if he heard her right he blinked several times. "What?"

"You're pregnant" she said in a gentle voice but the boy shook his head frantically.

"I can't possibly be pregnant, I'm a boy" he insisted.

"That brings us back to the subject of that potion, the one I believe you to have used was called the Trenceptous potion, it creates an opening behind the male genitalia and is used for sexual enhancement mainly with gay couples, the potion itself is usually manufactures for older women enhancing their sex life, women with problems involving their genitalia and women who are having trouble conceiving, it is basically a fertility potion" she explain and Severus felt his face drain of all colour.

"Now it is a rare side effect that a male pregnancy can occur with its use, not unheard of but it doesn't happen with all men just a select few and Severus you are one of them" she said again.

"I-I really am pregnant?" he stammered gazing up at her wide eyed.

The nurse nodded with a smile. "You are indeed, the symptoms you were having were of early pregnancy, morning sickness, frequent urination, cramping and tiredness these will wear off as the pregnancy progresses however I can give you a message to take to Professor Slughorn and he will be able to make you a potion that will bring the morning sickness under control and in turn you will feel much better in yourself" she said again and he nodded slowly. "I'd like to keep you here for a few hours just until after lunch so you can take it all in and we can go over some of the information you'll need about the pregnancy, in fact I'll be back in a second" she said turning and heading out into the backroom.

Moments later she returned carrying a thick book in her hands, handing it over to Severus he read the front cover 'What to expect when you're expecting' and stared up at her.

"I think you will find this useful and comforting throughout your pregnancy with a week by week guide to what is happening with your own body and with the baby" she said and he smiled weakly at her.

"Thank you"

"Now what I'd also like to do is run an ultrasound scan, which basically will allow me to get a clear view of the little one to make sure the baby is doing alright in there and make sure it's healthy and also determine clearly how far along you are and when you will be due" she said and Severus nodded quickly.

"Yes that's fine" he said.

"Good, if you wait here a moment, expose your navel for me open up your trousers as well so I have good access and I will fetch the scanner" she spoke calmly reaching out and pulling the curtain closed around the bed along its rail so nobody could see in. "I will be back soon" she said before disappearing behind the curtain.

Severus stared after her and looked down at the book in his hands, he was pregnant, he, Severus Snape, was pregnant. He placed the book down on the bed next to him and with shaky fingers pulled up his school jumper and unbuttoned the front of his shirt spreading it open before he opened the front of his trousers his whole stomach on show.

Come to think of it why hadn't he thought of it sooner, somewhere in the back of his mind was screaming 'because you're a boy, boys don't normally get pregnant!' he chewed on his bottom lip slightly. He gazed down at his stomach, he had all the symptoms, throwing up every morning, feeling sick, tiredness, aches, expanding waist line. He was pregnant, a dawning realisation hung over him like a dark cloud on a summer's day, he was pregnant and Avery was the father.

"Right, here we are then" Madame Pomfrey said bustling behind the curtain pushed something along in front of her, she stopped to yank the curtain closed before manoeuvring the device over to the bedside.

Severus watched closely as she snapped on a fresh pair of latex gloves from her apron pocket and pulled out a long white tube of something moving over to him she unscrewed the lid squeezing a fair amount onto his navel she spread it around gently with her fingers.

"Is this going to hurt?" he asked worriedly watching as she stuffed the tube back into her white frilly apron pocket, reached out and tapped her wand against the machine which whirred into life.

"No not at all, it's just going to project the image of inside your tummy onto the monitor so we can see what's going on in there" she smiled lifting the scanner from it's hook on the side of the monitor. "Ready?"

Severus swallowed and nodded feeling rather eager to see what was inside him. "Ready" he replied and she pressed the scanner to his stomach moving it around until a picture of a tiny little form appeared on the screen moving and flickering.

"That's your baby" she smiled and Severus gasped.

"T-that is... inside me?" he gasped his mouth hanging open with surprise and amazement as he stared at the screen, a tiny odd little form which did look like an under developed human being sat flickering before his eyes.

"It is indeed, the flickering you can see is baby's heart which looks absolutely fine good and strong and healthy" the nurse said moving the scanner a little to get a better look. "Baby is about half an inch long and this week the tip of its nose, eyelids, upper lip and ears are forming and also is starting to grow tiny webbed fingers and toes" she explained and Severus couldn't help but smile.

"I'd say you were just over eight weeks along, eight and a half weeks and everything looks good" she smiled removing the scanner and placing it back on the hook she pressed a button on the machine which began to whir again.

"Baby will be due between the thirtieth of May and early June it is difficult to predict an exact date but I would say most likely the first of June but babies hardly ever come on time" she smiled reaching out and taking two little pieces of paper that fell into the tray at the bottom of machine. Handing them to Severus his face split into a wide grin.

"They move!" he exclaimed gazing down at the two little photographs of the baby inside of him.

"Just like on the monitor, the flickering is the heart rate your next scan will be in one month which is twelve weeks" Madame Pomfrey replied.

"Thank you" Severus breathed his eyes still fixated on the images feeling Madame Pomfrey gently wiping the gel from his stomach with a tissue and pull his shirt and jumper back down over it.

"I trust you know who the other father is?" Pomfrey raised an eyebrow questioningly at him Severus looked up quickly at her quite surprised.

"Yes of course I've only slept with one person" he replied quickly.

"Okay and it is up to you when you break the news to him, but you really should do it at some point it is his baby too and it would do you good to have his support" the nurse said slowly.

"I'd like to wait a while and get over the shock of it myself first, I'm not really ready to blurt it out straight away that I'm expecting, please can you keep it a secret I want to be the one to tell people when I'm ready" Severus said worriedly.

"Everything we discuss here is entirely confidential and I cannot repeat anything told to me by a student unless I feel it is a danger to themselves and others around them, in this case I don't believe there to be any serious problem however, you will need to take my message to Professor Slughorn today so he can make the potion for you" she replied gently and Severus nodded slowly.

"Yes that would be alright" he said nervously tucking the photographs into his cloak pocket.

"You may remain here until lunch time and if you should so choose you can go to your last lesson, go for lunch or back to your common room whatever you feel up to but you must remember to see Professor Slughorn sometime soon if you want the morning sickness to stop" the nurse said.

"Okay thank you, I can start reading my book" Severus smiled as he buttoned up the front of his shirt, closed his trousers and rearranged his clothing back over his stomach.

"Very good, you'll need to get plenty to eat and plenty of sleep over the coming months, at your next scan we will discuss more about the birth but we don't need to worry much about that now" she said quickly as Severus picked up his book opening it to the first few page past the contents.

"I will I'd better start taking better care of myself" Severus nodded.

"It's nice to see you're taking this very seriously" Madame Pomfrey smiled. "I'll be back in a little while I've just got some things to sort out" she said before disappearing behind the curtain leaving Severus to lounge alone on the bed.

Eagerly, Severus shifted to the week by week guide reading what happens from the moment of conception this was definitely far more interesting than Potions.

A few hours passed and Severus had even managed to fall asleep for a little while and woken up to have a few cups of water before returning to his book, during lunch Madame Pomfrey came back in carrying a plate full of foods.

"I understand you might still not be feeling wonderful but I've brought you something to eat, these foods are what you need to make sure you are getting daily to have enough energy and make sure your baby is getting enough nutrition" she explained resting a plate with a very well done piece of steak on it, carrots, lettuce, peas, cooked mushrooms and pasta done on a small plate so it wasn't much to eat.

"I'll try eating it, if baby needs it then I'll do my best" Severus replied tucking into the blander vegetables first.

"The things you must avoid whilst pregnant are nuts although a very small moderation of peanuts are okay, raw meat, eggs, large amounts of dairy, cheese you have to be careful of and you must avoid warm or boiled milk or any kind, foods that are not well cooked, excessive amounts of caffeine such as coffees and anything alcoholic" she explained and Severus nodded slowly.

"Exercise will also not harm you as long as you do it in moderation but try to rest as much as possible right now, your baby needs you well rested and healthy so he or she can grow properly" the nurse added.

"Okay thank you" Severus smiled eating slowly and carefully trying to make sure he wasn't going to feel sick, or worse, be sick.

After lunch Severus packed his book into his bag and got up feeling a little better, perhaps it was because he was more relaxed now he knew what was happening with him he could treat it and not live in fear worried something was seriously wrong with him. He was pregnant, going to have a little baby in seven months.

"Here you go then" Madame Pomfrey said handing him a slip of paper with something written on it addressed to Professor Slughorn, a space for his signature was at the bottom beside her own. "Take it to Slughorn and he will make the potion for you, better sooner rather than later so you can feel better"

"Thank you very much" Severus smiled weakly suddenly feeling very nervous, he took the paper and slipped it into his cloak pocket along with the scan photos already in there.

"It's no trouble, remember if you're worried about anything or you're having any problems then come and see me any time I'll leave this little area set up for you and if things are feeling a bit too much you can come and get some space alone in here" she said gently and Severus nodded.

"Okay, thanks again" he said as he slung his bag over his shoulder and walked disappeared behind the curtain.

As he stepped out into the corridor he gazed around, everything seemed so different somehow he was seeing everything in a new light. Severus was pregnant with a real baby and although he did feel nervous and frightened he also felt incredibly happy.

Smiling to himself he gently rested a hand on his stomach as he headed over towards the staircases making his way to potions he just had to hope Professor Slughorn was okay with it...


	3. Chapter 3

Severus nervously walked along the dungeon corridor he couldn't help but feel somewhat excited about what was happening though too, he was having a baby, there was a little tiny baby living in his tummy that was going to grow from all the things he provided it until one day he would hold him or her in his arms. He smiled to himself eagerly stopping outside the classroom door he shifted from one foot to the other before grasping the handle and pushing it open.

He was late.

Everyone turned around to stare at him like he'd murdered someone when he entered closing the door quietly behind him.

"Ah Severus my boy, glad you could make it, have a seat we're just going over some mock exam papers this afternoon" Professor Slughorn said brightly.

Severus nodded making his way around the back he passed his friends tables sparing them a glance, they were staring worriedly at him as he went and sat down in his usual seat by himself. Mind you, they were probably wondering where he had been all day and missed so many lessons and lunch.

"As I was saying, the exams this year have many structural differences to those of last year and they will be far harder, it seems the level of knowledge you are expected to know has increased so you will need to make sure you start revising earlier this year and much harder" Slughorn addressed the class moving over and resting a little booklet on the table in front of Severus.

Severus could feel his friends eyes burning on the back of his head, they were probably wondering where he had been all day seeing as this is the first lesson he had come to and it wasn't like him to drop any classes even if he was ill. Severus yawned and smiled discreetly to himself, he had a little baby to think of now.

Turning to the first page of questions he yawned, even after resting, he still felt tired and a little sick. He would talk to Professor Slughorn at the end of the lesson and see about getting something to stop the sickness that way at least he could catch up on some homework and get things done.

A little while into the lesson and Severus had finished a couple of pages of his mock exam and was starting to feel quite sick. Morning sickness could come on at any point during the day, it had done before and he groaned.

Getting slowly to his feet his stomach was churning.

"Professor?" he called and Slughorn turned and walked over to him.

"Yes Severus?"

"May I please speak with you after the lesson?" he asked swallowing nervously.

"Yes of course, is it a private matter?" the aging potions master asked curiously staring at Severus' paling face.

"Yes it is and can I please go to the toilet I'm not feeling very good" Severus said resting the back of his hand over his lips willing the urge to vomit to go away, he did not fancy throwing up in front of a classroom of people.

"Yes of course, go on off you go to the toilet you look like you're about to be sick" Slughorn said waving his hand at Severus who clamped his hands over his mouth and hurried out of the classroom leaving several of the other students to stare after him.

Severus ran down the corridor and flung open the toilet door jumping into a cubicle he heaved vomiting a little into the basin.

"Maybe I shouldn't have eaten so much for lunch after not eating all day" he grimaced wiping his mouth clean taking several deep calming breaths.

He stood for a little while a hand resting carefully on his stomach before he flushed the toilet, washed his hands, and headed back into the classroom.

"Ah, you're back, is everything alright?" Slughorn asked as Severus sat back down in his seat.

"Yes it's all fine" Severus smiled picking up his quill and dipping it into the inkwell.

By the end of the lesson Severus couldn't stop yawning, he had almost drifted off several times but been woken up by pathetic abusive notes being sent to him by the Marauders.

"Right then everyone, your homework is to complete the second booklet by this time next week, I will see you all tomorrow" Slughorn addressed the class clapping his hands together.

The rustle of students filling their bags packing their things away and chattering eagerly as they left the classroom filled the air. Severus slowly packed away his things, stood up and went to the front of the classroom to stand and wait for Slughorn.

Severus watched as the potions master closed the door and made his way over to Severus with a smile on his face. He stopped in front of his desk barely a few feet away from Severus with a smile on his face.

"Right then Severus, what was it you wanted to talk to me about?" he asked brightly and Severus suddenly felt very nervous.

"Oh well I um, I was in the hospital wing all day with Madame Pomfrey because I haven't been feeling very well for a couple of weeks, that's why I was late to lesson" Severus began.

"Right..." Slughorn said quirking an eyebrow at Severus. "It's no matter Severus, you have a valid reason and you aren't late often" he smiled.

"She gave me a message to send to you and to ask you if you could please make a potion for me" he said fumbling around in his pocket pulling out the piece of paper and handing it over to his teacher.

Slughorn took it eyeing Severus suspiciously for a few moments before he unfolded it and began to read.

Severus' watched as Slughorn's eyebrows rose and he stared at the boy.

"It's quite a simple draught to make I can have it ready for you by this evening if you like but may I ask why Madame Pomfrey has prescribed this for you, I don't think I've ever given something like this to a student before" Slughorn asked curiously watching Severus' eyes widen and he shifted nervously from one foot to the other.

Severus closed his eyes momentarily in one long slow blink, taking a deep breath he looked Professor Slughorn straight in the eye before saying.

"I'm pregnant"

Slughorn's eyes went wide and he stared at the young boy unable to control his mouth from hanging open with complete and utter surprise.

"Severus, how?" he shook his head with confusion his eyes dropping to Severus' stomach.

"At the start of the year my friends and I were messing around playing a ridiculous game of truth or dare, they had this potion and they said that the first two out of the game one would take the potion and the other would, you know" Severus blushed furiously. "Madame Pomfrey said it is called the Trenceptous potion and it creates an umm, entrance, like a woman's thing behind a boys... testicles and the two losers would have to have sex using it. I lost and ended up taking the potion my friend and I slept together and I conceived" Severus said blushing awkwardly.

"Oh Severus" Slughorn sighed gazing down at his student.

"It was an accident, none of us knew it could happen and Madame Pomfrey said it's a rare side effect" Severus said quickly.

"I don't believe you did it on purpose, Severus, don't look so worried" Slughorn smiled gently and Severus visibly relaxed.

"How far along are you?" he asked trying to lighten the tension.

Severus reached into his pocket and pulled out one of the scan photos handing it over to his Professor he watched as a smile broke out on the older man's face.

"I'm just over eight weeks so two months gone" Severus smiled as Slughorn chuckled at the little moving photograph.

"Aw it's starting to look like a little person" he said and Severus couldn't help but grin.

"The flickering is its heart, it's still early but Madame Pomfrey says the baby is absolutely fine, my next scan is in a month's time when I'm twelve weeks gone"

"Oh how nice, how are you feeling about it all are you frightened, or angry, upset, happy?" Slughorn asked giving Severus back his photo which he stuffed back into his cloak pocket.

"I'm feeling a bit scared and nervous but I also feel really happy about it, it might sound silly but I feel excited and good about having a little baby growing inside me using whatever I do to myself to make him or her grow" Severus flushed and smiled resting a hand on his stomach.

"That is a very admirable attitude to have especially for you age, I don't doubt it will be tough on you these coming months having to cope with a pregnancy but you are a bright boy, Severus, no doubt you will be able to handle it be sure to look after yourself well now" Slughorn nodded, he had never felt so proud of a student before, for his age Severus was being very mature about this.

"Thank you, sir"

"May I ask who the, err, other father is?" the Professor asked curiously and Severus' eyes went wide. "You do know who the other father is, don't you?" he asked warily.

"Oh yes I do but he doesn't know yet and I'm scared of telling him because he might not want anything to do with us, it's been very awkward between us we haven't exactly spoken to each other much since we slept together so I don't know how he'll react" Severus replied his brows furrowing as he chewed nervously on his bottom lip.

"But you are planning to tell him?"

Severus was silent for a couple of seconds. "Yes but not right now, when the time is right I don't want to just run up to him and blurt it out so suddenly I think that might make our situation worse, I feel it would be best if I tried to build our friendship up a bit first" he replied and Slughorn nodded.

"Alright but Severus he does need to know sometime fairly soon, this is his baby as well and it me might a case that he will lend you support unless... you're hoping for something more?"

Severus nodded slowly feeling that familiar heat crawling up his neck.

"Well I can't tell you what to do, only advise you but I think that if you wait until you're ready and then ask him about how he feels towards you, you might get a decent response" Slughorn smiled gently.

Severus shook his head no that couldn't possibly happen.

"No, I know he doesn't feel for me in that way, if he did he would have said something he is quite outgoing and confident, I'm not and when we did it he didn't even kiss me, he knew I liked boys so if he did like me he would have kissed me or told me he liked me not just have a quickie and go and get into his own bed"

"Have you thought that perhaps he didn't know what to say or do, how to react and lest not we forget that you didn't kiss him either or say anything to him, he could well be feeling the same way you do right now you just don't know it" the older man said and Severus stared hard at him, he had a point there.

"I didn't really think of that, besides I haven't been feeling very well recently I've had terrible morning sickness, I've been so tired, hungry, having cramps and feeling a bit moody so I haven't really felt up to facing things like that yet" Severus replied slowly.

"I see, it's your choice what you do I hope you come to the right decision there is still plenty of time to have a think and decide what you want before the baby arrives, in the mean time I will make this potion for you and have it to you by dinner time this evening" Slughorn said kindly.

"Thank you Professor and could you please keep this a secret I don't want anyone to know just yet" Severus said quickly.

"Of course your secret is safe with me, take care of yourself" he waved watching Severus make his way over to the door and leave the classroom. He sighed, he just hoped things would start going better for Severus but at least he was happy about the baby.

Severus yawned walking down the dungeon corridor and back into the common room, it had been a long day and still wasn't over yet. He still felt incredibly tired even after resting in the hospital wing most of the day, but that was all part of being pregnant.

Pushing open his dormitory door he was greeted by the worried stares from his friends as he made his way over to his bed, dropped his bag and went into the bathroom.

A minute or so later and he re-emerged climbing onto his bed he curled up on his side.

"Severus are you okay, where have you been all day?" Avery asked staring across the gap between their beds at the other boy.

"I went to see Madame Pomfrey, I've been in the hospital wing all day" he replied closing his eyes allowing himself to relax.

"Oh really, what did she say, did she find out what's wrong with you?" Avery asked curiously, Severus could feel all of their eyes burning on him and he opened his own to stare at Avery.

He really couldn't tell Avery about the baby, not here and not now it wasn't the right time.

"Oh it's nothing, Slughorn is going to make me a potion just some sort of allergy to something, difficult to say what really it might not even be anything I've eaten" Severus replied avoiding the father of his child's worried gaze.

"Sounds... complicated..." Avery replied awkwardly and Severus nodded.

"More than you realise" he sighed pulling the covers up around himself in a little nest he closed his eyes.

It wasn't long before Severus was curled up under his blankets fast asleep.

"Severus... Severus, are you coming down for dinner?" a soft voice rang through Severus' ears as he felt himself being gently shaken awake.

"Mm?" he grumbled furrowing his eyebrows as he blinked up into the face of Avery.

"It's dinner time you've been asleep for a couple of hours, are you coming to get something to eat with us?" he dark haired boy asked again and Severus suddenly felt very nervous.

"Oh yeah, I am" he replied as Avery removed his hand from his shoulder. He really hadn't ought to be late to dinner seeing as Professor Slughorn would be bringing him that potion and he didn't fancy having to go through another day of that horrible morning sickness.

Yawning Severus sat up and climbed out of bed as Avery took a few steps back still staring at him. He blinked gazing around and running his fingers through his hair, the others were sitting on their beds doing various different things.

"Finally woken up then, Snape?" Mulciber commented tossing his magazine onto the bedside table and getting to his feet.

"Yeah, still tired though but what do you expect from being-"Severus caught himself his eyes widening slightly he bit his bottom lip.

"Being what?" Avery asked rising and eyebrow and Severus couldn't even bring himself to look at him.

"Ill" he said quickly and the others nodded.

"Maybe you should go back to bed after dinner and just take it easy" Mulciber suggested as they all headed over to the door.

"Yeah I will" Severus mumbled.

The great hall was as noisy as ever with students laughing and talking as they ate their dinner, Severus was starting to feel a bit better this evening after all the fuss earlier in the day. He couldn't tell his friends yet about the baby, he just couldn't let them know about it now he had to get used to it, of course if a situation arose that he might need to tell them then he would but for now he wanted to keep things quiet until he felt better and could get used to being pregnant. So for now he would pretend that nothing was wrong, that nothing was happening or going on with him and behave as normally as he could.

The group of boys sat down as usual at the Slytherin table talking normally and tucking into their dinner.

"Hey Avery, that little Arianna piece keeps looking at you" Mulciber smirked nodding a little way down the table where a chubby little blonde girl with a face like a pug was sitting smiling up at them.

Avery sent her a nod and a wave smiling at her and she giggled to her friends winking back up at him.

"I think she likes you" Evan chuckled glancing down at where the girls were sitting giggling amongst themselves sparing the odd glance up at them.

Severus' eyes dropped to his plate waves of anger and jealousy crashing over him.

"Do you fancy having a go with her then?" Mulciber asked and Avery turned to stare at the girls, he opened his mouth to speak when Professor Slughorn came strolling into the room a wine bottle wrapped in brown paper in one hand. Severus quickly stuffed down his dinner just as Mulciber asked again.

"Come on, I think she really likes you, bet it'd be pretty easy to get into her knickers" he smirked.

Severus slammed his hands down on the table getting to his feet he marched over towards the entrance where Professor Slughorn was standing waiting for him.

"What's gotten into Severus?" Regulus blinked confusedly.

"Beats the hell out of me" Evan shrugged.

Severus walked over to Slughorn red in the face, angry, hurt and feeling very embarrassed.

"Ah Severus my boy, there you are" Slughorn began frowning slightly at the expression on Severus' face. "Are you alright?"

"Yes I'm fine just tired" he grumbled back.

"Right, well I have the potion here for you" Slughorn said handing the clear wine bottle corked and wrapped in paper over to Severus. "Take it twice a day once in the morning and once before bed, if you feel sick or feel you need it during the day half a cupful should tie you over" he explained and Severus nodded.

"Okay thank you" Severus smiled weakly.

"If you need any more just come and ask I'll be happy to make you some and if you find it isn't strong enough I can modify it a little"

"Thank you, hopefully it will help" Severus replied slowly.

"Are you sure you're alright you look a little... upset?" the older man asked eyeing the young boy carefully.

Severus nodded. "Yes I'm fine just feeling a bit tired" he smiled weakly.

"Very well, I hope everything goes well for you let me know if it is working or not and I shall see you in lesson tomorrow" the potions master smiled.

"Thanks again" Severus nodded.

"My pleasure" Slughorn replied watching as Severus made his way past him and out of the great hall. He sighed and glanced over at the table where Severus' friends were sitting talking and staring down at the group of admittedly rather ugly girls making eyes at them and shooting them suggestive glances. Slughorn felt a small pang of sadness for the boy, one of them must be the father of the baby and the person Severus had feelings for and he was having to sit amongst them whilst they admired the girls in front of him.

Back up in the dormitory Severus came out of the bathroom, walked over to his bed kicking off his shoes he began to shed his clothes still feeling red faced and upset. Maybe Avery didn't like him at all maybe he was straight after all.

"Ohh" Severus sighed sadly straightening out his nightshirt and pouring himself a cup of water and a cup of potion, he drank from each in turn before climbing into bed and pulling the curtains closed around him snuggled down under the covers. Well that did a fair amount to ruin his day.

He lay awake for a while listening as he heard footsteps outside the dormitory door and then the others coming in talking and laughing.

"Snape you're not asleep already are you?" Mulciber called poking his head through the bed curtains. Severus gazed up and him sadly and Mulciber frowned. "Are you alright?"

"Yes I'm fine, just tired is all" Severus yawned.

Shrugging, Mulciber pulled back his curtains and strode over to his own bed.

"Hey Avery, I think you should go for that little piece, how often is it that someone is that into you they're willing to drop their knickers like that?" Mulciber asked and Severus felt that familiar jealousy washing over him. He glanced over at Avery who had pulled off his school shirt and was standing topless in front of them all.

Avery wrinkled his nose and shook his head. "Nah, I'm not interested in her at all to be honest"

"Why?" Evan blinked confusedly and Severus stared hard at the Avery his dark eyes tracing along all the lines of his torso to his flat taught stomach and up over his well-shaped nipples, he could feel himself growing a little hard just from the sight of him.

"I'm just not into that sort of stuff, for starters she is ugly, secondly if she's so willing to drop her pants for someone then she's a bit of a slag and I don't fancy touching someone who's been with lots of other people it seems a bit disgusting and anyway she really isn't my type" Avery shrugged dropping his trousers so he stood in his baggy dark underwear before he pulled on his pyjamas.

"Then what is your type?" Mulciber asked confusedly watching Avery flop down on his bed with his hands behind his head staring up at the canopy above.

"Pale, long dark hair, pretty dark eyes, someone who's quiet and subtly sexy" Avery smiled to himself.

Severus' heart gave a small leap he was pale with dark hair, dark eyes and quiet. Maybe, just maybe if he could hit the sexy mark then Avery would be after him that is if he was even into boys in the first place. A part of him reminded him that Avery had managed to get an erection to have sex in the first place but on the other hand he was a teenage boy and even the slightest thing would cause an erection even the thought of being seen partially naked in front of someone you aren't sexually attracted to could cause one but Severus had managed to make him moan.

"Sounds quite decent, but I think I'll stick to blondes with big boobs" Mulciber grinned to himself and Avery pretended to gag.

"I'm into bums not boobs" he replied and Severus suddenly felt very excited, he snuggled himself down under the covers.

"Right then, night boys" Evan called flopping down into bed.

"Night" Severus called from his little nest of bedding. Things actually seemed slightly more hopeful on the Avery front all he had to do was work out a way to attract his friends attention after all, he wasn't a Slytherin for nothing.

Closing his eyes he allowed himself to drift off into a comfortable sleep.

The next morning Severus' eyes fluttered open and he smiled to himself, the urgent urge to vomit wasn't there. Slowly he sat up and poured himself a cup of potion, rubbed his tired eyes and sat sipping it slowly waiting for the others to wake up.

Finishing his potion Severus lay back down under the covers, he hadn't felt so good in weeks. A stirring in the bed to his left caught his attention and he glanced over to see Avery stretch himself out like a cat under the covers, Severus couldn't help but watch him.

"Morning" Avery smiled over at him making him blush slightly and hide his face under the covers.

"Good morning" Severus replied.

"Not been sick today?" Avery yawned sitting himself upright and combing his fingers through his hair.

"No my potion seems to be working, thank Merlin" Severus replied still gazing at Avery.

"Good, I hope you feel better soon" Avery smiled gently and Severus couldn't help but smile back.

"Thanks" Severus smiled watching as Avery climbed out of bed and headed straight for the bathroom. Maybe things would get better after all.

A week had passed and now at nine weeks pregnant, Severus was feeling much better. The potion was bringing his morning sickness under control although there was one evening when he was reading and had fallen asleep without taking his potion and he was incredibly sick all over the place so he was sure to take it after dinner every night before he allowed himself to sit down just in case.

It was one evening after dinner and it was starting to get late, Severus felt like some time alone to read. He wasn't even able to get the top button of his trousers done up any more he was starting to gain a little more weight. Another thing he noticed was that his nipples had changed, they were slightly larger and pinker than before and far more sensitive.

He yawned stretching himself out and turning over a few pages settling himself back down more comfortably, things were definitely starting to look much better at least he wasn't feeling bad anymore, he was still emotional at times and tired but the fact he wasn't actually being sick really seemed to help everything else too and he was no longer a bit behind on his class work. Professor Slughorn had been keeping an eye on him making sure he was alright especially during lessons and called him in every couple of days for a chat just to see how he was feeling and that was fine with Severus.

He didn't even look up when the doors to the dormitories opened and closed behind someone or the footsteps that approached until someone leaned against the back of the sofa just behind him.

"Hey" a soft voice spoke almost making Severus jump he looked up into the face of Avery who was smiling down at his book. "What you up to down here all by yourself?" he asked.

Severus felt himself go a little hot all over. "Oh I was just reading, nothing important really" he said nervously averting his eyes.

"Mind if I sit down?" Avery asked gesturing to where Severus had his legs sprawled out in front of him.

Severus felt that familiar heat crawling up his neck and he nodded quickly swinging his legs back around and turning so he was sitting on the sofa properly Avery hopped over the back landing with a thump in the seat beside him and arm draped around the back of the chair.

"We haven't really had much of a chance to talk lately, I feel like you've been avoiding me for some reason, have I done something wrong?" Avery asked with a confused frown and Severus could feel his cheeks starting to glow with embarrassment. Avery was sitting close and he had his arm around the back of the chair Severus was sitting in it was almost like he had his arm around him.

"Oh no I haven't I've just been feeling ill and recovering, trying to catch up on school work" Severus mumbled averting his eyes shyly. Well so much for trying to be sexy.

"Same old Severus, always worried about your homework" Avery chuckled making Severus feel even more embarrassed wanting to hide his face in his book trying to cover his shame.

"Not" Severus flushed even further Avery was sitting so close now he could feel some of the warmth radiating from his body.

"You're blushing" Avery smiled and Severus felt the blood beating to his face, he tried to focus his eyes on the book he lifted closer to his face trying to cover his shame. "Don't worry I think it looks cute on you"

"Y-you do?" Severus stammered nervously glancing up shyly at his friend and father of his child.

"Yeah you're always pale, you never show any emotion and here you are blushing like crazy" Avery chuckled.

"You're making me really embarrassed" Severus mumbled and Avery started laughing.

"Don't like being told that you're cute?"

"Mm not cute" Severus flushed even further and Avery grinned.

"You might not think that, but I do" Avery smiled.

Clearing his throat a little Severus tried to change the conversation to draw the attention from his disturbingly red face. "So umm, how's the girlfriend search going?" he asked nervously.

"What girlfriend search?" Avery blinked.

"Last week you and Mulciber were talking about the sort of girls you like and after those girls were staring at you I just assumed maybe you were looking for one" Severus replied feeling slightly confused.

"What? No I'm not looking for a girlfriend" Avery chuckled and Severus stared blankly at him. "No, not really my sort of thing to be honest"

"Oh right, fair enough" Severus tried to hide the excitement in his voice, so if Avery didn't want a girlfriend then maybe he wanted a boyfriend, but it could also mean he didn't want either that he wasn't interested in dating right now.

"You look a little different" Avery commented his eye wandering across Severus' face, to his silky ebony hair and down his body a little.

"Do I?" Severus blinked, he had noticed himself that he was looking a little different to how he usually would, the colour had returned to his face a little more so in fact, his eyes were bright and his hair was becoming shiny again not to mention he had gained a small amount of weight.

"Yeah, something about you, you just seem a bit different somehow" Avery mused still gazing at Severus who felt that familiar blush creeping back up onto his cheeks.

"Oh probably because I'm not ill any more" Severus smiled and Avery nodded slowly.

"Maybe, but not like you've gotten better from being ill just something about you I'm getting a vibe of something"

"What do you mean?" Severus asked confusedly.

"I don't know you seem slightly more... I can't explain there's something about you" Avery replied staring hard at Severus as though trying to decide what it was.

Severus bit his bottom lip chewing on it for a few moments before taking a deep breath.

"Do you fancy going for a walk outside, we could sneak out?" he asked the words tumbling out of his mouth before he could stop them.

Avery blinked at him a few times with confusion and surprise. "Sneak out? Well I am shocked" he chuckled. "Never had you down as the sneaky type before, Severus"

Severus blushed furiously and shrugged. "There are lots of things you don't know about me"

"Well then, let's go" Avery grinned getting eagerly to his feet. Severus stood up quickly after him resting his book down on the sofa it would be alright until he came back.

He slowly followed Avery from the common room out into the corridor where they crept past Slughorn's office and out into the main entrance hall. Both of them gazed around carefully making sure the coast was clear before sneaking out of the front doors into the paved stone courtyard.

"Come on" Avery said gesturing for Severus to follow him through the dimly lit courtyard and out through the stone tunnel towards the covered bridge. They hurried over the bridge at a fast walk and out into the grounds not stopping until they reached the long sloping back by the Cliffside that many students lounged under during the summer. They sat down the stone walls towering behind them and Avery flopped down on his back into the long cool grass, the night's air was cool but not too cold, the sky was clear and sprinkled with stars.

Severus sat down comfortably beside Avery lying back in the grass he couldn't help but gaze up at them watching them twinkle brightly in the navy washed sky, the moon almost full and glinting bright silver.

It was a long time before either one of them said anything they just lay staring at the sky in peace.

"It's a beautiful night isn't it?" Avery said finally, Severus turned his face to stare at the other boy his features softened further by the pale gentle caress of the moonlight. "Reminds me of home to be honest"

Severus blinked several times in confusion. "Huh?"

Avery turned to stare at him carefully and smiled. "It reminds me of home, my parent's house is in the countryside and during the summer evenings I go and gaze up at the stars, to be fair there isn't much else to do but there's something relaxing about it"

"Oh, my house is in a run-down industrial estate in Coke worth so there isn't really much star gazing to be done around there" Severus said feeling slightly embarrassed.

Avery stared at him for a couple of seconds and he was thankful of the darkness to hide his blush.

"M-my parents don't have much money and we don't really have any other family left, my parents have just separated during the summer and my dad is an alcoholic" Severus said feeling very uncomfortable.

"I'm sorry to hear that, I never knew" Avery smiled gently.

"It's alright things will get better I suppose" Severus shrugged slightly.

"Well, as long as you're happy that's the main thing"

Severus smiled gazing up at the sky a hand moving to gently stroke across his navel. "Yeah... I am happy"

"Good, hey listen Severus?" Avery said nervously and Severus turned to stare at him, they were lying close together practically touching anyway.

"Hm?"

"Do you remember that night we slept together?" he asked and Severus swallowed hard, how could he possibly forget?

"Yes" he nodded quickly.

"Well, it just seems you've been off with me since that happened, I remember you turned away from me right after we finished and I just wanted to say that if I hurt you in any way I'm really sorry I didn't mean to" Avery explained and Severus suddenly felt very confused.

"Oh, no it's alright" Severus said shakily, he jumped slightly when he felt Avery's fingers trailing along his cheek bone making him blush furiously

"I didn't want to hurt you, I also didn't want you to feel bad about what happened and well... there's something I have to tell you" Avery said nervously turning on his side, Severus rolled onto his own side in the soft grass to face him. He watched as Avery sat up staring nervously across the moonlit grounds, Severus sat up quickly worried that his friend might just decide to get up and leave.

"Okay, I have a confession, I've been keeping it a secret ever since we slept together" Avery said swallowing nervously.

Severus' heart was hammering in his chest, now he was worried there might be something seriously wrong, or Avery was going to turn around and tell him to fuck off and leave him alone.

"I threw the game" he said turning to look Severus straight in the eye.

Severus stared at him in disbelief for a few moments his mouth hanging open and he blinked. "What?"

"I-I threw the game, the minute you lost I wanted to make sure I was the next person out of the game just so... just so I could sleep with you"

Severus didn't know how to feel, he was a mixture between happy, surprised, confused and down-right shocked.

"I didn't want anyone else to sleep with you, so I purposely lost so I could, I really like you Severus I want you to know that, I'm not expecting anything from it of course I just thought you'd ought to know" Avery said in a very serious tone.

Severus' heart was fluttering in his chest, his cheeks were glowing and a smile broke out on his face.

"I'll see you later" Avery got to his feet and made to move. Severus felt a moments panic, jumped to his feet grabbing Avery by the arm.

"Wait" he said weakly. Avery turned to face him meeting Severus' shy gaze they just stared at each other for a few moments.

"I-I like you too, a lot, that's why I got so angry last week at dinner, because I thought you liked girls" Severus said quickly watching a surprised expression wash over Avery's handsome features.

"Well I can safely say that I do not like girls, do you remember the description of what I liked up in the dormitory?"

Severus nodded.

"You're clever Severus, I would have thought you would have been able to figure out that I was talking about you" Avery smiled feeling Severus loosen and let go of his grip on his arm.

"Dark hair, dark eyes, quiet..." Avery said taking a step closer to Severus so they were just brushing against one another. "Sexy..." he breathed a shudder running down Severus' spine as he gazed up into those familiar warm brown eyes.

"I-I hope this isn't something to do with the way I was in bed, that was really embarrassing of me and I don't want you to like me just because I might be alright in bed" Severus said worriedly, he really hadn't hoped to attract Avery for the wrong reasons, he knew his behaviour that night was extremely embarrassing, he cringed at the thought of shouting in pleasure spreading his legs for one of his friends s easily.

"Severus... this has nothing to do with how you are in bed, I liked you before that happened that is why I threw the game for you because I didn't think you were interested and it was the only way I could think of that would allow me to sleep with you, I guess it wasn't proper sex but it was close enough" Avery said seriously.

Severus' eyebrow shot into his hairline.

"Look, I think you're kind, funny, cute, clever unique and you're just a really nice person to be around you have a great attitude and I just wanted you to know how I felt" Avery said again.

Taking a deep breath Severus closed his eyes. "In that case..." he said slowly.

"Willyougooutwith me?"

"What?" Avery chuckled in confusion making Severus thank the darkness once again to hide his furious blush.

Severus breathed slowly opening his eyes to gaze up into Avery's face. "Will you go out with me?" he asked quietly.

A smile broke out on Avery's face taking both of Severus' hands in his own he nodded. "Yes of course I will"

Severus felt giddy with pleasure and so incredibly happy that Avery wanted him back. He gazed grinning up into Avery's face not even caring that he probably looked rather silly right now he was just too pleased, Avery was his and he was Avery's.

"Want to hear a secret?" Avery smirked giving Severus' hands a gentle squeeze. The boy nodded eagerly wondering what on Earth it could be.

He jumped slightly his breath catching in his throat as Avery leaned in closer his lips against Severus' ear as he whispered "That night we had sex, I was a virgin"

Severus' dark onyx eyes widened in shock he watched as Avery drew back a little way his eyes half lidded a smile on his face.

Time seemed to pass very slowly as Avery leaned in closer, Severus' heart leapt in his chest. "W-what are you doing?" he whispered nervously.

Avery moved even closer leaning down slowly his lips slightly parted, Severus could feel his warm breath against his own lips as their temples bumped together Avery whispered "This..." before pressing his lips down on Severus' sending him to heaven.

Severus' head was spinning fireworks were bursting behind his closed eyes. Avery was kissing him, his first kiss and nothing had ever felt so incredible.

After what seemed like an eternity, they slowly drew apart gazing lovingly at one another through half lidded eyes their lips ever so slightly parted and pink from the kissing.

"Wow..." Severus breathed.

"Wow indeed, did you feel something?" Avery asked in a low voice a hand moving up to gently stroke some of the fly away hairs from Severus' face. Severus nodded slowly feeling ridiculously like a giggling school girl but at the moment he didn't even care how silly he looked, he was too happy to care.

"Seeing as you were honest with me and told me a secret, there's something you should know too" Severus said taking a few nervous deep breaths.

"Okay what's up?" Avery asked a smile on his face.

Severus was quiet for a few moments, he didn't quite realise how hard it would be to say these simple words.

"You remember that night we slept together using that potion, and you said it created an opening behind my balls which would go away after a couple of days?" Severus began and Avery nodded quickly. "Well I don't think you read that much into it, that you weren't aware of the possible side effects" Severus swallowed nervously.

Avery suddenly looked very worried. "You're not hurt are you?" he said worriedly resting his hands on Severus' upper arms.

"Oh no, I'm not hurt, I'm fine but I..." Severus was cut off by a strong swallow he was shaking slightly with nerves shifting from one foot to the other.

"You what, Severus?"

Severus closed his eyes momentarily in a long slow blink resting a hand on his growing navel he looked straight into Avery's eyes as he spoke softly "I'm expecting"

Avery stood staring at him in confusion for a few moments. "Expecting what?"

"I mean I'm _expecting_" Severus said gently stroking his stomach for extra emphasis. Avery's eyes dropped staring down at Severus' hand resting carefully on his tummy, it took a few seconds for it to register but when it did he stared up at Severus his face a mixture of complete shock and confusion.

"You mean you're-"

"Pregnant, and you're the father" Severus smiled watching the expression of complete and utter surprise on Avery's face.

"I'm going to be a dad?" he asked still staring at Severus in complete disbelief.

Severus reached into his cloak pocket pulling out one of the scan photos he gave it to his boyfriend. "I wanted to tell you about the baby before things went any further just in case you don't want me, I don't want you to be with me only because of the baby that's why I asked you out first, I'm just hoping that none of this changes your mind"

Avery gazed down at the little moving flickering scan photo of the human-like shape, the little tiny figure of the baby outlined in the moonlight he could see it all, his mouth hung open as he stared at it still registering the fact that it was his baby.

"You're the only person I've ever slept with" Severus said looking Avery straight in the eye. "The baby is yours, ours" he smiled.

Avery's face split into an enormous grin and he pulled Severus into his arms burying his face in the smaller boy's neck. "Severus..." he breathed feeling Severus wrap his arms around Avery in return.

"How far along are you?" he asked curiously.

"Just over nine weeks, I found out last week, they day I was in the hospital wing that's why I've been so ill, throwing up every morning and feeling so rotten was the morning sickness, being emotional is just my hormones and being so tired is all a part of pregnancy, I'm gaining weight too, see" Severus said pulling back a little way and showing the fact his trouser top button was undone due to his small expansion of his waist line.

"Oh gods you really are pregnant" Avery breathed pulling Severus back into his embrace gently holding him.

"I am indeed" Severus replied relaxing into Avery's arms.

They stayed wrapped in each other's arms for what seemed like an eternity just enjoying one another company and gentle embrace. Severus began to shiver slightly moving closer to Avery for warmth.

"Are you cold?" the taller boy asked quietly and Severus nodded.

"Yes, a little"

Avery pulled back, took off his cloak and draped it around Severus' shoulders wrapping it around him draping his arm around the boy's lower back. "Come on, let's go back inside" he smiled warmly and Severus grinned feeling that familiar fluttering in his chest.

They walked slowly back along the grounds across the covered bridge and back into the courtyard.

"Aren't you cold?" Severus asked as they headed through the stone passages.

"Not really, besides, you and our baby are more important" Avery smiled as they stopped outside the main entrance doors. He carefully opened them poking his head inside before guiding Severus through the doors and through the entrance hall, the walked quickly down into the dimly lit dungeon corridor creeping along silently to the end smiles on their faces.

Back in the common room they stopped just inside the door panting slightly for breath when Avery flung his arms around Severus bringing their lips together in a warm tender kiss.

Avery parted his lips slightly deepening the kiss as he continued to bring their lips together in soft kisses. Slowly they drew apart, Severus blushing slightly and gazing up into Avery's face.

"What?" Avery chuckled at the expression Severus had.

The boy shrugged lightly and averted his eyes.

"Seriously, what?" Avery smirked.

"Promise not to laugh and I'll tell you" Severus said shyly.

"Alright, I promise" Avery grinned resting a hand on his heart.

"You are my first kiss" he blushed burying his face in Avery's robes.

"Aw that's so cute, you really hadn't ever kissed anyone before?" Avery smiled wrapping his arms around Severus he could practically feel the heat radiating from the other boy's face.

"Never" Severus mumbled.

"Why did you think I'd laugh about this?" Avery asked as Severus lifted his face up to look into his eyes, his cheeks pink and flushed with embarrassment.

Severus gave a casual shrug. "I guess because you had kissed before and you knew what you were doing, I didn't you might have thought of me as immature"

"Immature? No not at all I actually find it quite hot and to be honest the thought did cross my mind when I kissed you" Avery smiled.

"In that case... kiss me again?" Severus asked hopefully.

With a light chuckle and a smile on his face, Avery leaned down and brought their lips together in a warm tender kiss.

They drew apart slowly gazing into each other's eyes.

"It's getting late do you want to head up to bed?" Avery asked glancing over at the clock.

"Alright" Severus nodded.

They made to head over to the dormitory stairs when Severus suddenly remembered. "My book!" he said reaching over the back of the sofa and grabbing it before turning back to Avery and smiling.

Avery chuckled wrapping an arm around Severus' lower back guided him up the stairs and into the dormitory. It was quite dark the lamps around the room were still burning but not to full brightness, Severus yawned tossing his book onto his bedside table he poured himself some potion and downed it quickly.

"Just going to brush my teeth" he said making his way into the bathroom leaving Avery to get changed.

A few minutes later and Severus appeared, pulling his and Avery's cloaks off he smiled as Avery passed him careful not to wake the others and headed into the bathroom.

Severus made his way back over to his bed pulling off his uniform he stood in his underwear reaching under the covers he pulled out his pyjamas and slipped the bottoms on. The bathroom door opened again and Avery reappeared, he walked quietly over to Severus and gently wrapped his arms around him from behind.

"You look really hot you know" he whispered into Severus' ear kissing him softly on the neck.

Severus swallowed hard his hands moving up to cover his chest.

"What's the matter?" Avery frowned slightly noticing the sudden discomfort.

"Can I put my top on please?" he asked in a small voice.

"Why?" Avery asked confusedly. "You're really hot you know"

Severus was quiet for a few moments before he blushed and mumbled something incoherently.

"Sorry I couldn't hear you?" Avery asked quietly kissing Severus' neck again.

Severus took a deep breath before saying quite clearly. "My nipples look weird"

Avery tried very hard not to laugh but his shaking and failure to remain quiet gave him away completely.

"It's not funny they're horrible" Severus sighed sadly.

"Well let me have a look and I'll tell you if they're horrible or not" Avery smiled but Severus shook his head.

"No I don't want people to see them"

"Oohh please, for me?" Avery whined and pouted against Severus' neck.

Letting out a long drawn out breath Severus closed his eyes momentarily before turning around his hands still covering his chest

Avery smiled gently at him, his hands moving up between them as he carefully lifted Severus' hands away revealing the smaller boy's chest. Avery stared at Severus' nipples for a few moments, they were different they were bigger and pinker but he had a sneaking suspicion that this had something to do with the pregnancy.

"See I told you they're horrible" Severus blushed looking away.

"They aren't horrible, they are extremely... erotic" Avery whispered.

Severus let out a small noise and jumped as he felt Avery's tongue swirling around one of them the sensation was surprisingly great and he groaned softly. His nipples had never been as sensitive as this before, he could feel them swelling and hardening under Avery's lips.

The taller boy drew back slowly a smile on his face and he leaned down instantly to capture Severus' lips in his own. "There" he whispered breaking the kiss slowly. "Nothing wrong with those gorgeous little nipples of yours" he smiled and Severus felt himself blushing right to the very tips of his ears.

"Do you want to get into bed?" Avery asked tilting his head to one side.

"Okay" Severus smiled reaching for his pyjama top and pulling the plain red fabric over his head watching Avery lift back his inviting bed covers for him.

"Here" the other boy smiled and Severus still blushing, slipped under the covers grinning to himself as Avery tucked him in properly pressing his lips to Severus' forehead.

"Goodnight" he whispered before moving to get into his own bed, instead he felt Severus' hand reach out and grab a hold of his wrist stopping him in his tracks.

"Why don't you... that is, if you want to... come and sleep here with me tonight?" Severus offered.

Avery smiled. "I'd like that"

Severus watched as he walked around the other side of the bed lifted back the covers enough to slide in beside him then reach out and drawn the curtains closed around the bed.

"Comfy?" Avery asked gently wrapping his arms around Severus pulling the boy close.

"Very" said Severus snuggling into Avery's arms a smile on his face.

"Good, sleep well gorgeous" Avery breathed leaning down and kissing Severus on the lips.

"You too" Severus smiled burying his face in Avery's warm chest closing his eyes slowly. Today had gone far better than he had expected, he had told Avery about his feelings and about the baby and Avery had accepted them he liked him back and was keen about their child.

Severus drifted slowly off to sleep dreaming of the happy and exciting coming months the two boys had in store for them...


	4. Chapter 4

The early morning light spilled across the dormitory floor warming the room as it crept through the crack in the bed curtains to softly caress the pale delicate skin of Severus' face. He lay snuggled up in bed his rosy lips slightly parted his long dark lashes casting intense shadows across his supple white skin. Avery still lay on arm draped gently over his hip breathing softly into the back of his neck.

Severus' dark eyes slowly fluttered open and he blinked himself awake furrowing his brows slightly letting out a small sigh.

"Potion" he mumbled sitting himself up rubbing his tired eyes before reaching onto his bedside table and pouring himself a cup of the miracle potion. He yawned and began to drink the potion his eyes dropping to the warmth lying beside him the events of last night came flooding back and he smiled to himself as he finished the drink and replaced the cup before snuggling back down under the covers facing his lover.

Severus couldn't help but smile, Avery was here with him in his bed he hadn't gotten up and left during the night or anything he was still there still lying with him. His eyes trailed over the small pretty features of Avery's face, his fine dark eyebrows with a slight arch to them, his pale soft skin, his small nose, those impossibly long black lashes curling slightly at the ends and his tender rosy lips. Severus felt himself leaning in slowly his lips parted slightly as he pressed them against Avery's own in a warm tender kiss.

Just then the other boy's warm brown eyes fluttered open and he let out a soft moan smiling against Severus' lips. Severus drew back quickly a pink blush glowing on the apples of his cheeks.

"Morning gorgeous" Avery smiled pulling Severus into his arms.

"Good morning" Severus mumbled still feeling rather flustered and embarrassed.

"Sleep well?"

Severus nodded slowly "You?"

"Very well thank you, I've got my own life sized hot water bottle to cuddle to sleep" Avery smiled and Severus couldn't help but chuckle.

"Fancy going back to sleep for a while? I've just taken my potion so I don't have to worry about throwing up" Severus asked looking up into Avery's handsome face.

"That's good Severus, glad you're feeling better and of course" Avery said happily closing his eyes again.

Severus snuggled himself back down under the covers a smile playing on his features in all fairness he wouldn't have been surprised if Avery had woken up, taken one look at him and burst into tears but no, he actually still wanted to be with him and thought he was attractive. Severus grinned to himself before closing his eyes and drifting back off to sleep, yes this would be a brilliant morning.

Around an hour or so after they went back to sleep the other boy's started to wake. Yawning Mulciber got out of bed and began to pull on his clothes as Evan was still sitting in bed having some water and pulling back his drapes. He glanced around the room his eyes falling on Avery's neatly made empty bed.

"Where's Avery gone?" he asked putting his glass down on the bed side table and hopping out of bed.

"Beats me, probably in the bathroom" Mulciber shrugged nodding over to where he bathroom door was closed.

"Well he better hurry up I need to piss" Evan replied.

"Charming" Mulciber yawned buttoning up the front of his school shirt.

Evan dressed himself quickly tutting with annoyance he marched over to the bathroom door banging on it. "Whoever is in there get out now before I pee myself!" he shouted grabbing the door handle and pushing it, to his surprise the door opened.

Nobody was in there.

"What?" he blinked confusedly. "There's nobody in there" he turned to stare at Mulciber who shrugged.

Pulling on his cloak he marched over to Snape's bed stuck his head through the curtains to wake his friend up and his jaw almost hit the floor.

"WHAT THE FUCK?" Mulciber shouted.

Both of the boys jumped the sound of Mulciber's shouting startling both of them awake.

"What..." Severus blinked gazing up at his friend as Evan came rushing over poking his head through the drapes to stare at them both his mouth hanging open with surprise.

"Morning" Avery greeted lazily his arms still draped around Severus.

"What is going on, why are you in bed together?" Mulciber demanded looking from Avery who was still lying with his eyes closed his arms around Severus, to Severus who was lying snuggling up against Avery blushing and wide eyed not looking the slightest bit innocent.

"Oh my god have you been having sex?" Evan blurted out. "I can't believe it, I thought you were straight and we find you sleeping with him!" he shouted to Avery.

"Do we look like we've been having sex? We're fully dressed!" Severus replied sitting bolt upright in bed feeling awkward and embarrassed.

"Are you gay?" Mulciber said bluntly staring hard at Avery, the person he believed to be his best friend.

Avery was quiet for a few moments before he nodded slowly. "Yes, I am"

Mulciber put his head in his hands and sat down on the edge of the bed as Evan pulled the drapes open around it. He let out a long hard sigh shaking his head with despair. "Why didn't you tell me you were interested in blokes?"

Avery was quiet for a few moments as he sat up glancing at Severus who was fidgeting with the edge of the bed covers. "Because I wasn't sure of how you would react, Severus was the first person I told..."

"I don't believe it, you seemed so into the girls you'd quite happily talk about them with me, their boobs their bums everything about them yet we find you in bed with a guy!"

"When did I seem so into girls? I have never stated bluntly that I like them because I don't, why do you think you've never seen me with a girlfriend, or a boyfriend for that matter apart from now?" Avery replied. "I have talked about them with you when YOU were blabbering on about them, but I don't actually have any interest in being with one"

"I feel like such an idiot" Mulciber sighed. "Why didn't you tell me you two were together, how long has this been going on for?" he demanded looking from Severus to Avery and back again.

"We didn't tell you because we only just got together last night, don't be angry with Avery about this" Severus said slowly.

"I'm not angry over this but I am pissed that you didn't bother to tell me you were gay, I knew about Snape but not you, we're supposed to be friends!" Mulciber snapped.

"Does it even matter now, the truth is out, I'm gay and Severus and I are together" Avery said bluntly.

"Can we please not shout at one another it's stressing me out" Severus said giving Avery a look that meant it wasn't good for the baby. Instantly Avery shut up and nodded as Evan dropped down on the end of the bed beside Mulciber.

The four of them sat in silence for a little while exchanging awkward glances trying to decipher what to say.

"Has this sprung since that night we played truth or dare?" Mulciber asked finally.

"No, since before that, way before that" Avery replied and Severus nodded his agreement.

"Okay" Mulciber nodded slowly. "Well, I wish you both good luck together, I hope things work out" he got to his feet slowly.

"Thank you" Severus smiled weakly.

"Just going toilet" Evan said hopping up and jogging quickly into the bathroom shutting the door behind him.

"Are you two gonna get ready so we can go down and get some breakfast?" Mulciber asked sharply.

"Yes, bloody hell calm down" Avery tutted as they both climbed out of bed reaching for their uniforms.

"Are you feeling alright this morning, Severus?" Avery asked watching his boyfriend pulling on his trousers and buttoning his shirt up, the top button of the boy's trousers left undone.

"Yes I feel fine, still tired but I'm always tired" Severus chuckled watching Avery knotting his tie.

"How about tonight after dinner we come back up here and I'll give you a back rub?" Avery offered with a smile watching Severus' face spread into a grin.

"I would love that, thank you"

"My pleasure" Avery smiled.

They finished getting dressed, picking up their bags they slung them over their shoulders and pulled on their shoes.

"Are you finally ready?" Evan yawned coming out of the bathroom.

"Yes" Avery sighed as they made their way out of the dormitory and down into the common room.

"I still can't believe you two are together you just seem very mismatched" Mulciber commented as they headed along the cool dungeon corridor together.

"What makes you say that?" Severus asked coldly.

"Dunno just I didn't expect any of this I always thought that Avery liked girls" Mulciber shrugged.

"Well get past it because I don't like girls, you should be happy for me that I've found someone I want to be with" Avery turned to face his friend anger welling up inside of him.

"It's not that I'm not happy it's just that, well..." Mulciber shot a brief glance to Severus who felt his heart plummet.

"Because it's me" Severus said quietly, they all stared at him.

"No I just think-"

"You think that because he's your friend he needs protecting and he should be with a girl not a boy, and that he could do so much better than me, well maybe you're right I'm sure he could but I really want to be with him and if he would be happier with someone else then he knows I'd let him go to be happy but I hope that doesn't happen" Severus said angrily.

"I can't fucking believe you sometimes, you're supposed to be our friend just because it's not your thing doesn't mean to say it's not someone else's, Severus is awesome and there is nothing wrong with homosexuality, Dumbledore is gay in fact" Avery snarled pointing the accusing finger at his friend.

"I am NOT against gays, I am just shocked why didn't you tell me when you first started having feelings for him or when you realised you might be gay instead of just springing it on us like this" Mulciber said quickly.

"Oh I'm sorry I didn't realise I had to tell you every tiny little detail of my fucking life!" Avery snapped.

"Look I'm sorry I don't want us to stop being friends because of this" Mulciber said calmly. "Any of us" he looked to Severus.

"I tell you what, when you've learned to accept the relationship then come and apologise, until then don't bother speaking to us" Avery said bluntly.

"Mate I didn't want to upset either of-"

"Too late for that now" Severus replied.

The four boys stared at one another, Evan hanging uncomfortably beside Mulciber not saying anything. Mulciber swallowed hard and walked past Severus and Avery with Evan trailing along behind him leaving the two boy's standing in the corridor together.

"I feel really bad now" Severus said in a low voice.

"Why?" Avery asked worriedly.

"I feel like this is my fault and he doesn't want you to be with me because he thinks you could do a lot better and that I'm no good for you because I'm smaller and skinny, greasy and ugly and you're well, none of those things you are too good for me and I'm really scared I'll lose you" Severus sniffled tears prickling in the back of his eyes.

Avery pulled the other boy into his arms hugging him gently. "Don't say things like that I'm not too good for you and you are not ugly" he said in a soft voice.

"I'm so scared of losing you, I feel like I've finally got you and now he's going to take you away" Severus sniffed fighting back the tears that threatened to fall.

Avery pulled back slightly gazing into Severus' dark sad eyes. "Listen to me, I am not going to leave you under any circumstances, I have no intentions of hurting you no matter what Mulciber says he's being a twat and he will come round in time, you and our baby are far more important to me than his opinion" he smiled watching a light blush creeping up on Severus' cheeks, his eyes filled with tears but his lips curled into a smile.

"Thank you" Severus breathed gazing into his boyfriend's eyes.

Without another word, Avery leaned down and kissed him softly on the lips making Severus' heart give a small leap of joy in his chest, that familiar tingling and waves of excitement washing over him.

When they drew apart slowly they both smiled.

"So, you think Mulciber will be alright with this if we give him time?" Severus asked brightly.

"Trust me I know he will he's done this before when that Regulus Black expressed some desire over boys" Avery smiled. "He soon calmed it down didn't he?"

"I didn't even notice he'd gotten upset" Severus chuckled.

"And besides, there's nothing more important to me than my boyfriend and our baby" Avery smirked leaning down and kissing Severus on the lips.

"Same for me" Severus grinned his cheeks glowing slightly with happiness.

"There you have it then, we can talk to Mulciber together later on tonight or wait for him to come to us for a chat, he will do when he's ready I guess it was just a shock" Avery smiled.

"Good"

"How about the three of us go and get some breakfast, I don't know about you but I'm starving" Avery smiled as they began walking along the corridor. He gently laced his fingers through Severus' holding onto his hand as they headed into the entrance hall.

Severus blushed slightly a few students passing turned to stare at them. "Try being pregnant, ever since I stopped throwing up I've been hungry all the time" he chuckled.

"That's a good thing right? It means that baby will be growing more if he or she is getting plenty to eat" Avery smiled as they headed into the great hall. Several students turned to stare at the couple as they headed over to an empty space by the door.

Dropping into their seats side by side they began piling their plates with food ignoring the stares from some of the other students that were glancing over at them and muttering to one another. Severus looked up and saw Mulciber sitting further down the table with the rest of the boy's talking quickly and staring up at them.

"People are staring at us" Severus mumbled tucking into his fruit and toast.

"Just ignore them, they probably will for a day or two until they get used to the idea" Avery replied watching Severus eating.

"I can handle that" Severus smiled sipping at his fresh iced pumpkin juice.

"You're eating very healthily" Avery commented with a smile.

"Yeah I know I have been since I found out I'm pregnant, my book says I need to eat plenty and eat as much healthy stuff as possible to help baby grow properly" Severus replied.

"Any cravings at all?" Avery asked curiously.

Severus frowned. "A little maybe, I've been getting an urge to eat things covered in sauces like golden syrup, chocolate sauce, strawberry sauce, banana sauce, hot sauce you name it I'll put it on anything"

Avery couldn't help but laugh. "Can I have an example?"

"Well a couple of days ago at lunch time I had bananas and chocolate ice cream with hot sauce and pepper" Severus said thoughtfully.

"Oh wow I'm surprised it didn't make you sick!" Avery chuckled.

"Nah surprisingly I'm okay eating that stuff but I can't help it, the book says cravings are fine but if they're about things non edible then I need to start taking more supplements but they're fine" Severus smiled back.

"That's alright then, when do they come on?"

"Any time of day especially when I'm hungry or not doing anything, sometimes I wake up in the night, not hungry but having some small cravings, one night I even snuck down to the kitchens to nick food and eat it in the common room then went back to bed without getting caught" Severus grinned.

"Severus you never cease to impress me" Avery grinned. "By the way if you wake up in the night feeling some cravings don't get out of bed wake me up and I'll go get you stuff"

"You don't need to do that for me" Severus blushed.

"No but I want to so if you want anything during the night then just ask and I'll get it for you, you're pregnant you need food" Avery smiled.

"Thank you" Severus grinned.

They finished their breakfast getting to their feet, Avery gently took Severus by the hand and left the great hall ignoring the odd person shouting 'queer' after them. They made their way along the dungeon corridor stopping outside the potions classroom, the door was locked and they stood outside waiting for Professor Slughorn to arrive.

Avery wrapped his arms around Severus' waste in turn Severus draped his arms around his boyfriend's neck.

"It's Saturday tomorrow, fancy doing anything?" Avery asked casually as some more of the students arrived outside the classroom shooting confused glances at the two of them.

"I was kind of hoping to spend the day with you actually, relaxing" Severus smiled trying to ignore the stares.

"Funnily enough so was I, so, seeing as you're pregnant" Avery said in a low voice. "How about we have a long lie in, I'll run you a nice bath, bring you up some food and then give you a back and foot rub?"

"That sounds amazing" Severus breathed. "I know I'm not heavily pregnant but I've still been feeling tired and stuff so it will be nice to relax" he grinned eagerly.

"Yes and how about you show me some of this book you've got tonight so I can be nice and prepared too?"

"Definitely" Severus grinned.

The four Marauders came sauntering down the corridor laughing loudly as usual but stopped dead in their tracks when they saw the two Slytherin's hugging outside the classroom.

"Well, well, well what do we have here?" James grinned maliciously at them.

Both Severus and Avery turned to glare at the bespectacled Gryffindor who was exchanging glances with his friends.

"It appears that we have a couple of gays, Prongs" Sirius commented with a nasty grin. "Oi Snivellus why didn't you tell us you were queer?" he teased.

"I'm warning you Black, make another comment like that and I'll hit you so hard your clothes will hurt!" Avery snarled.

Severus couldn't help but feel rather excited and happy Avery was going to protect him from the Marauders and possibly anyone else.

"Oooh, what you going to do to me, smack me with your handbag?" Sirius teased.

Severus grabbed hold of Avery's chest as the boy seemed to be about to launch for Sirius who was now laughing uncontrollably with James and Peter, as usual Remus stood behind them his lips pursed in disapproval.

"I wouldn't be too quick off the bat there Black, your little brother has a thing for guys" Mulciber commented as he, Evan and Wilkes pushed past the four boys and stood against the wall opposite Severus and Avery.

"Who are you to say anything, you're just part of their little death eater gang corrupting my brother, now I see where he gets it from" Sirius tutted shaking his head with disgust.

"Regulus has a mind of his own he can think for himself, just shut up and leave people alone you're wasting your time" Mulciber tutted.

"I've got a good mind to come over there and-"

"Is there a problem boy's?" Professor Slughorn's voice interrupted Sirius of as he appeared carrying his usual cardboard box of papers under one arm. He stopped right outside the door looking from Mulciber and Evan to the Marauders to Avery and Severus still with their arms around each other.

"No problem at all" Severus replied as Slughorn opened the classroom door allowing the rest of the class to file in.

Severus watched the four Gryffindor's walk in shooting him vicious glares.

"Thanks" Avery commented as Mulciber walked past.

"Don't mention it"

Severus and Avery pulled apart taking hands with one another they headed into the classroom, Slughorn shooting Severus a knowing smile before he shut the door and waited for the class to take their seats.

"Mind if I come and sit next to you?" Avery asked as they headed over to the far side of the room together.

"Okay" Severus nodded.

He took his seat and watched as Avery sat down beside him, Mulciber and Evan sat two desks behind.

"I've never had someone to sit next to in this lesson before, in any lesson in fact" said Severus.

"Well you do now" Avery smiled pulling up the seat next to Severus.

The lesson was well under way and running pretty smoothly. Severus kept shooting soft glances at Avery sitting beside him writing things down in his note book as Slughorn lectured the class on information for their upcoming exams and what potions they would be learning in the next couple of weeks, he was also giving the run down on new ingredients, where to find them and what they were used for.

"I never realised you paid so much attention" Severus muttered as he scribbled a brief note down in his own book.

"Yeah I usually do I can't fail my exams my dad would kill me" Avery replied stretching out his legs under the table.

"You failed last year?" Severus frowned slightly.

"No actually I got an Outstanding" Avery looked to Severus whom looked thoroughly impressed.

"Wow me too, so if you did so great last year why are you so worried about this year?"

Avery shrugged. "I worry about them every year to be honest I want to do well"

"I'm surprised, you never talk about anything you learn in class or your academic interests, I'm very intrigued" Severus smiled.

"All the more interesting facts to learn about me then" Avery waggled his eyebrows and Severus chuckled quietly.

A roughly folded white paper bird fluttered lazily across the classroom swirling around the boy's heads before landing lightly on the table in front of them. Severus groaned immediately recognising the familiar origami work.

"What's this" Avery said picking up the bird.

"It's from those Gryffindor pricks" Severus sighed picking watching Avery pick it up and unfold it, his dark eyebrows shot into his hairline with surprise. He turned the paper showing it to Severus who rolled his dark eyes.

"Immature as usual" he sighed looking at the rather badly but neat pen drawing of two boys, one obviously being Severus with the gigantic nose bending over a table for Avery with a tiny penis drawn being inserted up his backside.

"They send these to you often?" Avery sighed screwing the paper up and dropping it back onto the table.

"Yeah unfortunately they do, they usually have nasty insults written in them but I guess they've stooped to a new low" Severus replied. "Don't worry about it, they obviously think they're funny but nobody else does" he added nodding over to where the four boys sat Sirius and James high fiving one another with Peter grinning madly.

"I think it's best if we just ignore them, they can relish in their own pathetic little games, we have better things to think about than them" Avery smiled dropping his eyes momentarily to Severus' stomach.

Severus could feel himself blushing furiously resting a hand gently on his growing tiny bump.

"Two and a half weeks and I'll have my next ultra sound scan" Severus smiled gently.

"Can I come?" Avery asked brightly his eyes sparkling excitedly.

"Of course you can, you don't need to ask, just wait until you see the little baby moving inside of me on the screen it's so amazing, when I first found out and Madame Pomfrey showed me it was just so incredible I felt special like I'm actually managing to grow something inside of me something that was healthy and happy to be there" Severus smiled warmly feeling extremely happy.

"That's because you are, how big was baby when you had the scan?" Avery asked quietly.

"About an inch and a half in size, a bit bigger than a butter bean so the baby will be a little bigger by now and by the time the next scan comes along baby should be quite a bit bigger" Severus grinned gazing down at himself proudly.

"That's amazing, and wait until you actually start to grow, when your tiny bump grows and continues to get bigger until you give birth" Avery bit his bottom lip with excitement.

"I know I'm so excited, but worried at the same time I still haven't told my parents and don't plan to for a while yet, also the rest of the school will find out and how they will react it's worrying but I'm still happy" Severus sighed.

"You don't need to worry even if they don't react well you've still got me and I'll always protect both of you" Avery smiled reaching out and resting a hand on Severus' on the table giving it a gentle squeeze.

"Thank you" Severus breathed.

The rest of the day passed relatively well considering the stares, the constant whispering and odd rude comment most of the student population were alright with the pairing they didn't seem to mind after all homosexual relationships were legal and quite common and Dumbledore being gay only helped to promote it but still some students saw it as an invitation to bully Severus more, he was very glad for Avery's protection.

After dinner, the two boys spent sitting together away from their friends who kept shooting glances up the table at them. They headed back to the common room together hand in hand ignoring the people staring at them and went straight into the dormitory.

"Are you going to stay with me tonight?" Severus asked hopefully heading straight for the bathroom.

"I'd like that, if you want me to of course" Avery smiled pulling off his cloak and kicking off his school shoes.

"Of course" Severus grinned before closing the bathroom door behind him.

Avery pulled off his tie and unbuttoned his shirt and trousers tossing them onto his own unused bed along with his school bag as the door opened and Severus re-emerged.

"There you go" Severus smiled walking past his boyfriend as he headed into the bathroom.

Turning to his bed, Severus pulled off his clothes tossing them onto the top of his trunk at the bottom of the bed sighing as he stretched himself out and began to pull on his pyjamas. By the time he was changed and ready for bed, Avery had reappeared in just his underwear.

"Don't forget to take your potion" Avery smiled watching Severus climb into bed.

"I won't" he replied reaching for the clean cup and the wine bottle, he uncorked the lid and filled his cup with the bright blue potion before re-corking the bottle and sipping at his drink.

"Today went surprisingly well actually, didn't it?" Severus asked as Avery lifted back the covers beside him.

"Do you mind me sleeping in my underwear?"

"Not at all" Severus smiled. Avery grinned climbing into bed beside his lover watching him sip his drink.

"I agree with you today has gone surprisingly well if you don't count those Gryffindor tosser then yeah I'm surprised at how well people reacted really" Avery mused.

"Of course we had the odd few who seemed to think it clever to make rude annoying comments but the vast majority have been good with us" Severus replied placing the empty cup back on the bedside table and pulling out his wand. "Aguamenti" he watched as it filled with cool water before taking a few sips and turning his head to gaze at his boyfriend as they sat propped up against the headboard.

"They'll get used to the idea soon" Avery smile lifting his hand up to gently stroke Severus' left cheek with the back of his fingers. Severus couldn't help but smile warmly.

Reaching under his pillow, Severus pulled out the pregnancy book flipping it open to the page he had marked. "Look, there's this week's information" he smiled showing it to Avery. "It also lists the symptoms I may still have and how I'm going to be feeling, it's very accurate even down to the emotional side of it"

"Yeah your hormones will make you a bit emotional at times I guess" Avery smiled scanning over the pages.

"Yes but I've felt much better today" Severus smiled. "But that problem with Mulciber this morning did upset me more than it should have"

"You're probably just having stronger reactions to upsetting things but you have seemed quite bright today actually" Avery nodded.

"It's because of you actually" Severus blushed furiously.

"Me? What did I do?"

"Made me feel good about myself, showed me that you want me, showed me that you want our baby and that you're really kind and caring" he blushed even further.

"Aw well I'm always going to be nice to you, Severus, I really care for you and the baby and I admire your strong willed attitude" Avery smiled pecking him on the cheek.

The two of them sat in silence for a little while together just gazing into each other's eyes, Severus slowly tucked the book back under his pillow they could always read some more tomorrow.

"You want something?" Avery asked raising his eyebrows playfully watching the light blush appearing on Severus' supple cheeks. Slowly Avery's fingers trailed down the side of Severus' face moving along his jaw under his chin, gently he pulled the boy's face forward leaning in and kissing him softly on the lips.

Severus moaned softly against Avery's tender rosy lips. Opening his mouth slightly, Avery deepened the kiss taking Severus' hand gently in his own.

Slowly they pulled apart their eyes half lidded their lips barely a centimetre apart. The door opened, Mulciber and Evan came back in stopping in their tracks to stare at their two friends.

"Didn't realise we were interrupting anything" Mulciber said awkwardly snapping the door shut and heading over to his own bed trying to ignore the fact his two male friends were almost kissing just a few feet away.

"Don't worry, we'll close the curtains if it's going to make you gag" Avery said nastily.

"Don't be like that we're supposed to be friends" Mulciber replied quickly.

"Yes supposed to be, the four of us, and you shouldn't just turn your back on us because we're together it's not going to stop us from being your friend" said Severus resting his head on Avery's shoulder.

"We are still friends I don't want that to change just because you two are together" Mulciber replied.

"Then start acting like a friend, we're not expecting you to be in love with the idea straight away just make an effort, I've fancied Severus for a long time now and he's important to me" Avery said gazing down at his boyfriend. "This is far more than just a quick relationship the lines run far deeper than a silly old fling" he said his tone turning serious.

Severus swallowed he knew exactly what Avery meant, the baby.

"Care to tell me why these lines are so deep then?" Mulciber said pulling on his pyjamas.

"Not just now it's not the right time, but we will tell you when the time is right" Avery replied.

"Yes but believe us when we tell you this is very serious" Severus added quickly.

Mulciber and Evan stopped to stare at them for a few moments confused and even slightly worried expressions crossing their faces.

"Why, what's wrong?" Evan asked worriedly.

"Is one of you seriously ill?" Mulciber asked looking from one to the other.

"No not at all but all we ask for is you not to cause us any stress" Avery said calmly catching Mulciber's eye.

For a few moments they all stared at one another nobody saying anything before Severus decided to shuffle down under the covers burying himself into the nest of blankets the way he usually does.

"Night" Severus said snuggling himself down comfortably.

"Yeah, see you in the morning" Avery nodded reaching for the curtain tug hearing the other two's resounding goodnight before the curtains fell closed and he too snuggled down into the covers with Severus wrapping his arms around him gently watching Severus sleepily slip his thumb into his mouth.

"Falling asleep already?" Avery chuckled quietly softly kissing Severus' forehead.

"Mm"

"Aw cute, goodnight then Sev" Avery smiled to himself closing his warm brown eyes.

"Night, hot stuff" Severus breathed feeling himself drift off.

Avery blushed slightly and smiled to himself, so Severus thought he was hot.

The next morning Avery crept back into the dormitory, it was mid-morning by now and Avery kicked the door shut and made his way over to the bed with drawn hangings, slipping through he rested the tray on the bedside table, reached for the wine bottle and poured a good measure of bright blue potion into the spare cup resting it on the tray before he sat down gently stroking his fingers through Severus' hair.

The boy was still lying sprawled out sleeping on the bed, his left thumb in his mouth, his right hand down the front of his pyjama bottoms. Avery's eyebrow's rose slightly before leaning in and pressing his lips to Severus' cheek gently shaking him away.

"Severus... Sev... time to wake up" he said gently watching his boyfriend frown and groan. "I've got your potion ready and some breakfast for you" he smiled as Severus' eyes fluttered open.

"Mm?" he mumbled lazily gazing up at Avery.

"Were you masturbating or something?" Avery chuckled nodding down to where Severus' hand was still jammed down the front of his trousers.

Severus slipped his thumb out of his mouth. "What? No I was just holding myself, I do that when I sleep always have done its comforting" he replied slowly sitting himself up rubbing his tired bright eyes.

"It's also very cute" Avery smiled resting the tray on Severus' lap handing him the potion.

Severus blushed taking the drink sipping at it lightly gazing into Avery's face.

"So how are you feeling this morning?" Avery asked making himself comfortable on the bed facing Severus.

"Not bad actually, still tired but I've been so much better since I stopped throwing up" Severus smiled drinking the rest of his potion and resting the cup on the side.

"Good, I got you breakfast I wasn't sure if there were any guidelines so I picked stuff out I know you like and I've seen you eat this week" Avery said leaning in and kissing Severus on the lips.

"Thank you, that's really sweet" he smiled back gazing down at the fruit, crispy bacon, chips and buttered toast.

"When you're done I'll run you a nice warm bath, tidy up and then give you a back and foot rub, maybe after that you can show me some of that pregnancy book you were telling me about?" Avery smiled warmly as Severus tucked into his breakfast.

"You spoil me" he chuckled. "But thank you it sounds lovely"

"Any time, I just want to look after you I feel an urge to protect you ya know?" Avery smiled back gazing lovingly at Severus as he ate.

"Because I'm pregnant" Severus blushed slightly. "I'm carrying your baby and you want us to be safe and comfortable, is that right?"

"It is indeed, you're fragile so please let me help you in any way I can, Sev" Avery grinned watching the blush deepen on his boyfriends face as he finished his breakfast lifting the goblet of pumpkin juice off. Avery picked up the tray and put it on the floor moving to sit right beside Severus. "I know I seem a bit of a hard person with a bit of an attitude maybe even a little rough, I know people say bad things about me they think I'm evil but I'm really not like that on the inside, I believe someone once said, don't judge a book by its cover, I want you to know that I care about you a lot and our baby too"

"I know you're not a bad person you've known me that, I wouldn't like you if you were I'm very impressed you still want to be with me even though I'm a pregnant teenage boy this will alter our lives forever but I guess it's in a good way I have a great feeling about this" Severus replied gently resting a hand on his tummy.

"So do I, Sev, So do I" Avery smiled pressing his lips to the boy's soft temple.

They sat in silence for a little while just enjoying one another's company.

"So tell me a bit more about this whole pregnancy thing, we've not really had a chance to talk properly about it" Avery mused wrapping his arms around his boyfriend.

"Well that night we spent together using that potion created the opening, after we had sex it wasn't for a good few weeks maybe five weeks later that I started to feel weird and kind of ill, as you know I was throwing up all the time, having to pee constantly, falling asleep everywhere and I just felt a bit down" Severus began.

"So, what made you think you might be pregnant?" Avery asked curiously.

"Nothing because I'd have never though it a million years that I might be expecting a baby, I thought I had some kind of flu bug or something was wrong with me but it wasn't until I was in the library... scratching myself... that I felt something behind my balls" Severus continued thoughtfully resting his head on Avery's shoulder. "I was in a panic so I ran to the toilets, pulled my trousers down and used a mirror to take a look and that opening was still there, I remember you said it should go away after a couple of days with no use but it hasn't and it scared me a lot I hadn't realised I was there before so I decided to go and see Madame Pomfrey"

"I'm surprised you didn't go back to the library and find something there about it" Avery said quickly.

"I thought about it but there isn't much chance the school library would stock a book like that and I was so worried anyway about my health I just decided Madame Pomfrey would be a better option, so I went to her I was utterly terrified at this point so I explained my symptoms and what happened that night with the potion, I told her that the opening didn't go away and I was having all these symptoms so she took a blood and urine sample and went off to analyse them" Severus explained.

"Then she came back and said she found some hormone HCG, human chorionic gonadotropin in my system and that it's only found in pregnancy, I was so shocked, she gave me the book and then ran an ultra sound scan on me and printed the picture" he smiled warmly up at his boyfriend who was also grinning brightly. "When I saw the baby moving around on the screen it was shocking but it felt incredibly, the baby didn't look overly human because it was still early days but I just felt like I wanted to do everything I could to protect him or her, she did the scan basically to check the baby was alright and it is which is great and my next scan is at twelve weeks so she can check baby is growing healthily and see how much he or she has grown"

"It sounds amazing, I'm really excited now to see what the little one is like, did the scan hurt?" Avery asked curiously.

"Not at all"

"Good, so when are you due? Must be towards the summer time if a pregnancy lasts nine months" Avery asked.

"Yes end of May, early June time so we'll have a nice new baby for the summer time" Severus grinned.

"Amazing, I wonder what our parent's will say when they find out we're having a baby together, my parents don't even know I'm gay" Avery chuckled.

"I dread to think what mine will say, mine have separated my mum might be alright but my dad is completely against homosexuals and that, you see he's a Muggle and in the Muggle world homosexuality became seen as a normal thing from nineteen sixty eight but a lot of the older generation frown upon it, well the narrow minded religious types do anyway, sad really, but it just proves how much more the Wizarding world has advanced with the fact that homosexuality is seen as quite a good thing and couples can actually marry, I guess it's a matter of opinion on what's right and wrong but in the end people will start warming up" Severus sighed.

"Yeah they will, most people are accepting but of course the Muggle born students and some half-blood's don't see it as a good idea either because they've grown up being told it's a bad thing, terrible really that some people aren't allowed to make their own choices but hopefully their ideas will change as they mature" Avery grinned and Severus nodded with agreement.

"Definitely!"

"So, how about I run you a nice bubble bath?" Avery offered watching a grin spread across Severus' face.

"I'd love one, thank you" he spoke softly.

"Alright then, come on" Avery chuckled climbing out of the bed watching Severus follow after him still in his pyjamas as he rested the goblet on the bedside table. He followed Avery into the dormitory bathroom locking the door behind them as Avery made his way over to the bath giving it a quick wipe round before turning on the large taps watching the warm water pour from one table and the enormous about of foamy bubbles from the other, rainbow coloured bubbles floated around in the air and filled the room with the warm scent of cherries and vanilla.

"Smells lovely" Severus commented sniffing the air.

"I know this one's my favourite" Avery replied.

"Mine too" Severus replied watching as his boyfriend turned off the taps, the bath filled with the warm luxurious water.

"Right, do you need any help or-" Avery said awkwardly walking towards Severus.

"I'm okay thank you" Severus smiled watching Avery walk towards the door, he pulled off his pyjama top pushing his trousers down with them stepping out the legs he turned to look at his boyfriend right before he touched the door handle.

"Avery?"

"Yes, Severus?" he turned to look over his shoulder at his boyfriend the sight of him standing there in his underwear, his smooth pale skin and those gorgeous nipples were enough to make him grow semi hard.

Severus could feel the heat crawling up his neck his cheeks flaring crimson again as he bit his bottom lip nervously. "Would you maybe like to... you can say no if you don't want to it's just an idea but, would you like to, you know, come in with me?" he immediately covered his face with his hands feeling horribly embarrassed.

Footsteps crossed the room and the next thing he knew Avery was in front of him gently lifting back his hands away from his beating red face. Severus gazed up at him his cheeks on fire but there was a warm smile on Avery's face.

"Why do you always call me by my surname?" he chuckled.

Severus blushed even further. "I like your surname"

"Mm well how about you ask me that question again using my first name?" Avery purred kissing Severus tenderly on the lips he felt the boy convulse slightly with excitement under his touch.

"Would you like to have a bath with me, Will?" Severus asked hopefully gazing into his boyfriend's eyes.

"Mm I'd love to, Sev" Avery replied kissing his boyfriend again before drawing back and pulling off his hoody and t-shirt, kicking off his shoes he started to feel nervous that Severus might become upset if he realised he was hard.

"Why don't you get in first?" Severus suggested nodding towards the inviting water.

Thank Merlin!

"Okay" Avery nodded moving over to the bath turning his back to his boyfriend as he dropped his trousers and underwear. He looked back over his shoulder and smirked at Severus whom was staring at his backside.

"Like what you see?" Avery chuckled slipping into the water so he was up to his chest completely covering his erection before turning around to face Severus.

"You're very hot" Severus smiled moving over to the edge of the bath.

"Thank you, get your pants off and come in the water is great" Avery smiled nodding towards Severus' underwear.

Taking a deep breath, Severus pushed his underwear down dropping them to the floor completely exposing himself to his boyfriend whom bit his bottom lip gazing at Severus' member.

Severus slipped carefully into the water moving so he sat on the ledge beside his boyfriend.

"Are you feeling alright, is the water warm enough?" Avery asked draping an arm around Severus' waist.

"It's really nice thanks, are you okay?" Severus replied gazing up at his boyfriend.

"I'm alright, has anyone ever told you how nice you look?" Avery smiled making Severus blush once again.

"No they usually call me ugly and greasy, you know that" he flushed further.

"Well they're jealous and wrong you're sexy" Avery breathed his right hand moving down his lover's side to stroke across his pale thigh under the water.

"Your accent is sexy" Severus grinned and Avery burst out laughing.

"What? Lancashire?"

"Yeah, were you born in Manchester?" Severus asked curiously.

"Yes actually I was, my parents and I lived there for about twelve years partly because my dad was helping to look after my grandparents, but about three years ago now they passed and we decided we wanted a fresh start so we moved out to the countryside, still in Lancashire mind but it's further out so we could get away from all the busy city stuff, it's nice there dead peaceful and there are no muggles" Avery explained. "Mum likes to keep farm animals she grew up on a farm you see so when we moved they bought a farm house, we've got a good few acres of land we fenced off not that anyone ever comes by but we've got some sheep, a few goats, horses, cows, chickens and pigs saves them money as well not that we're poor or anything but they can get their own produce it's pretty fun to play with the animals"

"That's lovely I'll bet it's nice in summer it sounds a lot better than me to be honest" Severus blushed feeling very embarrassed.

"What's wrong with your house?" Avery asked with a slight frown.

"My parents have separated like I said before and we live in a really run down rough area of Coke Worth in Yorkshire, in an industrial estate the house is a tiny terraced thing and now my dad has been kicked out he's living in some sort of hostel and my mother is a pureblood but she kept the house and all the possessions I haven't spoken to my dad since" he said awkwardly.

Avery smiled. "Well that's alright it's more than some people have don't look so worried"

"It makes me feel kind of inferior to be honest you have a nice house and I'm stuck wearing some of my mother's old clothes" Severus sighed.

"I don't think you're inferior at all, why don't you come and stay with me during the summer? My parents won't mind especially seeing as we'll have the baby by then they'll want to meet him or her" Avery offered brightly.

"Y-you mean that?"

"Of course it'll be a great laugh and the fresh air will be good for the baby too" Avery smiled gently resting a hand on his boyfriend's stomach.

"Thank you very much" Severus grinned leaning forward and kissing Avery softly on the lips.

"No problem" Avery grinned.

Severus sat himself between Avery's legs enjoying the sensations as the other boy rinsed the soap from his long ebony locks.

"You don't have to baby me so much" Severus chuckled stretching his legs out in the water in front of him.

"Mm but I want to and don't tell me you aren't enjoying it" Avery replied softly.

"I am really enjoying it" Severus breathed, he groaned feeling Avery's hands dig into his shoulders as they began to work at him massaging him thoroughly. "Now that feels really good" Severus grinned closing his eyes and leaning back into his boyfriend's touch.

"That's good, it's supposed to help you relax" Avery mused his hands working slowly down Severus' back. "By the way I heard what you called me last night before you fell asleep"

"W-what?" Severus stammered worriedly.

"Hot stuff" Avery chuckled.

"Oh... if you don't like it we can just pretend I never said that I was falling asleep it just kind of slipped out-"

"I didn't like it, I loved it" Avery interrupted gently wrapping his arms around Severus' ribs.

"You did?" Severus looked over his shoulder confusedly.

"Why wouldn't I?" Avery chuckled.

"I don't know..."

"Anyway, do you fancy getting out now and get back to bed and I'll give your feet a good rub?" Avery suggested and Severus nodded eagerly.

"That sounds fucking amazing" Severus grinned.

Severus slowly climbed out first reaching for the fresh fluffy white towel he wrapped it around his waist turning to look at Avery whom had just climbed out of the bath.

Severus' jaw dropped.

"Is something wrong?" Avery asked pushing his wet dark hair back from his face noticing Severus was staring at him strangely his mouth hanging open.

"Y-your penis" Severus stammered still staring at it making Avery feel very uncomfortable.

"What about it?" he asked worriedly.

"You're hung like a hippogriff!" Severus stated still staring at his boyfriend's member making him blush furiously. "I can't believe I never noticed before"

"Is 'hung like a hippogriff' a good thing?" Avery quirked an eyebrow.

"YES!" Severus said still staring as Avery walked over to him and wrapped his arms around him.

"Thank you, you're quite nicely endowed yourself" Avery smiled feeling Severus turn his head to look down between them biting his bottom lip.

"Can we go back into the dormitory now?" Severus practically purred the look in his eyes sending shivers down Avery's spine.

"Yeah sounds good to me" Avery smiled opening the door, poking his head through he checked the room was empty before he hurried out, reached into his drawer and pulled out a fresh pair of underwear and pulled them on quickly, he grabbed a t-shirt and some dark jeans watching as Severus walked over to his bed and grabbed a pair of underwear for himself pulling them on.

"Why don't you put some fresh pyjamas on, I'll bring you lunch and dinner today" Avery smiled.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive, get them on and lie on the bed" Avery nodded.

Severus pulled on a clean pair of black baggy pyjamas and a pair of fluffy white socks before getting up onto the bed lounging across it happily. He watched as Avery pulled something out of his drawer and then dropped down by Severus' legs turning to hand it to him.

"Here, some chocolate, thought it might help to relax you"

"Thank you, do you want some?" Severus offered seemingly rather surprised. Chocolate and a foot rub, whatever next?

"Nah it's yours, enjoy yourself" Avery grinned lifting Severus' foot onto his lap. Severus groaned with pleasure as Avery worked his fingers thoroughly into the underside of his foot, his teeth sank into the chocolate and he thought he was in heaven.

"You spoil me" he smiled sucking on a piece of delicious chocolate.

"You deserve it" Avery beamed working his fingers thoroughly into the sock covered foot.

Half a bar of chocolate later and an exceeding good foot rub and Severus was about ready to fall asleep again. Avery smiled resting his foot down on the bed he pulled the spare thin bed fleece off of the bedside table and draped it over Severus.

"Don't go anywhere, stay here with me please" Severus grumbled his eyes drooping lazily as Avery snuggled up against him.

"Don't worry I'm not going anywhere" Avery breathed kissing him softly on the lips.

"Avery?"

"Hmm?"

"This evening do you fancy letting me give you a treat of my own?" Severus asked burying his face in his boyfriend's warm chest, he inhaled his scent deeply allowing it to fill him up.

"What kind of treat?" Avery blinked.

"Just something special, you'll like it" Severus smiled struggling to keep his eyes open.

"Alright then babe, but for now go back to sleep you look exhausted" Avery chuckled slightly kissing Severus again. By the time he pulled back Severus was once again fast asleep...


	5. Chapter 5

Severus woke around dinner time having completely missed lunch he rubbed his tired eyes and smiled. Avery was still lying beside him fast asleep beside him. He shuffled even closer so their lips were almost touching their faces touching one another he could feel Avery's warm breath on his mouth and leaned in to kiss him.

"Mm?" Avery grumbled opening his eyes, a smile curled in the corner of his mouth and he began to kiss Severus back softly.

When they drew apart, Severus started to laugh. "And you said I was tired"

"Oh shush you" Avery grinned playfully and pulled Severus in for another kiss.

When they pulled apart they gazed into one another's eyes for a few moments.

"It's time to get some dinner, I'll bet you're hungry, I can go and fetch you some if you like?" Avery nodded to Severus' stomach.

"Yeah a bit, but I feel alright I wanna go down anyway and see what's going on we should probably keep showing our faces at the table so the other's don't think were disappearing on them" Severus replied rolling onto his back. "I get the feeling that when baby is bigger baby is going to be hungry all the time" he chuckled.

"Aww" Avery smiled gently stroking his fingers over Severus' tummy. "I can't wait until baby gets bigger and you have a proper bump, I'll be sure to give you lots of tummy rubs"

"That sounds brilliant, I really enjoy it when you touch my stomach" Severus grinned.

"What about your chest?" Avery smirked playfully his fingers moving up to stroke across a clothes nipple making Severus' breath catch in his throat.

"That umm, kind of turns me on" Severus blushed furiously.

"Isn't that the point?"

"You want to turn me on?" Severus asked his cheeks still stained red.

"Nothing wrong with being a little horny" Avery smiled and Severus blushed even further.

"So, can I ask you a personal question?" Severus asked rolling back onto his side playing with the material over Avery's chest.

"Fire away" he replied and Severus couldn't help but blush again. Realising what he had actually said, Avery burst out laughing. "You're really dirty minded, but come on what's the question?" Avery smiled.

"I'm not dirty minded" Severus pouted slightly. "Do you masturbate?" he asked shyly biting his bottom lip and looking up into his boyfriend's face.

Avery burst out laughing again. "Not dirty minded? Then you ask me a question like that? Oh Sev..." he grinned.

"But do you?" Severus asked nervously.

"Yes I do sometimes to be honest, you?" Avery replied honestly.

Severus blushed again and nodded.

"Aw, no need to look so embarrassed it's perfectly natural" Avery smiled pulling Severus into his arms. "So what do you think about then when you touch yourself?" he asked in a softer voice.

"You..." Severus flushed again and Avery grinned. "What about you?" he asked trying to divert attention from himself.

"I think about you of course" Avery smiled honestly.

"Oh wow" Severus grinned.

"So how about we go and get some food then?" Avery asked happily and Severus nodded.

They got out of the bed dressing themselves quickly, pulling on their shoes and cloaks they left the dormitory hand in hand heading down into the common room.

"It's getting colder" Severus commented as they made their way along the dungeon corridor.

"Yeah the snow is well on its way in time for Christmas" Avery replied.

"The grounds look so beautiful when it snows and I'll be almost four months pregnant on Christmas" Severus grinned lowering his voice just in case anybody could hear them.

"I know, how time flies, at this rate you'll be giving birth in no time" Avery smiled giving Severus' hand a gentle squeeze.

"I haven't really even thought about that to be honest it scares me the thought that a baby is going to come out of such a small place" Severus breathed chewing nervously on his bottom lip.

"People give birth all the time you will be alright, I'll be there to hold your hand and help you through it, cheering you on" Avery smiled.

"You promise?" Severus asked hopefully grinning up at his lover.

"I promise" Avery said leaning down and kissing him on the lips.

The great hall was packed as usual, Severus and Avery walked in still holding hands and trying to completely blank the odd looks and plain stares people were shooting at them, thankfully for Severus quite a few people were scared or at least wary of Avery so they didn't dare say anything to him out of fear that Avery might do something and this settled Severus easily, although it didn't stop those awful Marauders from shouting queer then ducking down at the Gryffindor table hoping they hadn't seen.

"Fuck off" Avery shouted carelessly over at them, a few students turned to stare at the use of his language so openly at the dinner table.

They sat down beside their friends cautiously, they all shot one another awkward glances.

"Haven't seen much of you two today" Regulus commented as they tucked into their dinner.

"We've been upstairs" Avery replied. "Having some alone time"

"Ooh getting down and dirty, beast with two backs and all that kind of shit" Regulus smirked and Avery almost choked on his food, Severus' face was on fire with embarrassment.

"Beast with two backs?" Avery coughed.

"Yeah you know, shagging" the younger boy shrugged, they all stared at Severus and Avery.

"No actually we've just been sleeping" Severus said calmly.

"Together" Evan chuckled.

"Yes, but not in the way you think just normal sleeping" Severus said quickly.

"Why...?" Wilkes asked suspiciously.

Severus and Avery glanced at one another before Avery shrugged. "Tired would be the obvious reason"

"Fair enough" Evan said slowly.

They ate their dinner talking about the usual things, the tension in the air slowly beginning to lift the more they talked. After dessert they all got up and started heading back to the common room. Avery gently took Severus by the hand once again entwining their fingers.

The group of boy's headed through the common room and up into the dormitory, Severus went straight into the bathroom needing to pee. Several minutes later he was out and switched places with Avery before he made his way over to the bed and began to fumble with his clothes pulling on his pyjamas again he slipped under the bed covers.

It wasn't long before Avery appeared in the doorway, he smiled to Severus walking over to the bed he shed his clothing so he stood in his underwear before slipping under the covers beside, Severus.

Severus glanced over to what the others were doing, Mulciber was already in his pyjamas reorganising his trunk and Evan was busy getting to work on some homework he had long overdue. Leaning in close to Avery's cheek he whispered. "Don't think I'd forgotten about your treat"

Avery's lips parted slightly his eyes widening as he turned his face to gaze at Severus. "What kind of treat?" he asked curiously.

Severus smiled shyly. "You'll see, I think you will like it" he replied quietly.

"Well I look forward to it, I'm guessing the others have to be asleep before you can do whatever it is?"

Severus nodded quickly. "I don't really think they'd be very impressed by it" he chuckled.

"Ah okay" Avery smiled. "By the way you look gorgeous"

"Thank you, you're pretty nice yourself" Severus blushed. Avery smiled warmly pulling Severus into his arms the other two boys turning to look up at them hugging.

A little while later, Mulciber and Evan eventually decided to retire to bed, closing the drapes around their bed they called their goodnight's to one another. Reaching up, Severus yanked the curtain pull closing his own emerald drapes around the bed leaving the two boys completely alone.

"So, now do I get to see what this little treat is?" Avery smirked and Severus thanked the darkness for hiding his blush.

Without a word, Severus leaned in feeling very nervous he brought their lips together in a warm tender kiss holding it for a few seconding before kissing his boyfriend again.

Parting his lips slightly Severus deepened the kiss shuffling closer to Avery wanting to feel his body pressing against his own. Severus moaned softly as Avery's tongue gently traced along his bottom lip begging for entrance. Severus parted his lips and groaned quietly as his boyfriend's tongue slipped into his mouth rolling against his own kissing him passionately.

Avery's hand slowly began to gently slide up and down Severus' side before moving higher and slipping underneath his pyjama top trailing lightly across the delicate skin towards a nipple.

Severus emitted a soft breathy moan against his lover's lips as Avery's fingers bumped over his sensitive left nipple gently plucking and tweaking at it. Severus continued to moan softly feeling that familiar rush of blood descending to his nether regions, his pyjamas bottoms rapidly growing tighter

"Oooh" Severus whimpered as Avery began to roll his nipples around with his thumb. Nervously he reached out to touch his boyfriend's bare chest gently stroking his way across it.

Breaking the kiss he turned his face to the side pressing his lips to the pulse point of Severus' neck making the smaller boy gasp as he continued to trace the taught firm lines of his lover's torso. Avery's lips continued to press soft tender kisses against his neck sinking his teeth into the supple pale skin. He drew some of the snowy white skin into his mouth and suckled on it leaving an angry red love mark in his wake.

Severus groaned softly again as Avery began to plant sweet kisses up his neck and along his firm jawline back to his lips.

By now Avery could feel himself practically throbbing in his underwear as he captured Severus' lips roughly in his own in a passionate kiss their tongue immediately becoming trapped in a battle for dominance as his fingers continued to tweak at Severus' perky nipples.

Nervously Severus' hand began to trail down Avery's torso over his perfectly flat stomach and down towards the waist band of his boxer shorts.

Avery instantly broke the kiss panting slightly gazing into Severus' eyes, the smaller boy snatched his hand away feeling a heavy blush setting on his cheeks.

"I- I'm sorry I just thought-I'll stop" Severus said sadly.

"Don't be sorry" Avery spoke in a low husky voice a smile curling in the corners of his mouth. Severus stared at him confusedly for a few moments.

"I just thought that maybe you'd like me to" Severus gestured down between them towards his boyfriend's crotch. To his surprise, Avery chuckled.

"You just want to touch my penis don't you?" he grinned making Severus blush even further. "I saw your face in the bathroom" he said playfully.

Severus buried his red hot face in his lover's chest feeling horribly embarrassed as he nodded slowly.

"Do you know something else?" Avery said in a small voice.

Severus lifted his face to gaze up at his boyfriend and shook his head.

"I'm really horny" Avery smiled warmly.

Severus' mouth opened slightly as he stared up into his boyfriend's face.

"Go on, see for yourself" Avery purred his warm brown eyes falling half lidded.

Severus slowly reached back down under the covers, his fingers brushed over Avery's stomach. Reaching the waist band of his boyfriend's underwear Severus slowly brushed his fingers over and moaned loudly. His fingers brushed over the enormous bulge in them, a rather damp patch at the top where Avery was already leaking.

Severus' gazed up into Avery's lust filled eyes as the other boy pulled him in for another rough, passionate kiss his tongue immediately making its way down Severus' throat. Severus reached down and pulled Avery's boxers down his slender fingers immediately curling around the other boy's erection, he broke the kiss to look down between the bed covers making Avery blush as he began to stroke his throbbing hard member.

"You're so big I can't believe I never noticed before" Severus breathed still gazing down between the covers at his hand working up and down the length of his boyfriend's member.

"You were probably too nervous to notice before well you seem kinda nervous and very shy now but in a different way" Avery half groaned shifting his hips closer to Severus his own hand moving to tweak at the smaller boy's nipples again.

Severus shuddered and moaned stroking Avery's erection more vigorously feeling his lover's hand trailing down his body towards his pyjama bottoms. He jumped slightly and gasped as the hand made its way into the front of his trousers and quickly pulled his own equally hard member out Avery began to stroke him thumbing his way over the tip spreading the small drops of pre-ejaculate around making Severus whimper with pleasure.

"Mm you like that?" Avery breathed feeling Severus begin to pick up his pace a little stroking him harder.

"Yes..." Severus moaned quietly spreading his legs open wider.

Avery moaned softly shifting a little closer as he began to work his hand faster on Severus' throbbing leaking member, drops of pre-ejaculate trickling onto his hand, he carefully smeared them around the sensitive glans continuing his stroking.

Severus buried his face in his lover's neck emitting small whimpers and breathy moans of pleasure quickening his pace on his boyfriend's member stroking him harder and faster. All too soon he felt that familiar pooling sensation in the pit of his stomach, the rush building rapidly.

"I-I think-" he swallowed panting heavily. "I'm close..." he breathed into his lover's neck.

Avery smiled to himself breathing heavily and moaning softly he quickened his pace on his lover's member shifting down lower he leaned in swirling his tongue over a sensitive nipple.

It was all too much sensation, Severus tensed and came with a muffled cry shuddering and whimpering into the pillow as he came hard onto his lover's awaiting hand his own still wrapped around Avery's member stroking him in uneven movements.

Avery continued to stroke Severus' member slowly milking out the last few drops of semen before he drew back and shuffled up to gaze into Severus' lust filled dark eyes swirling with arousal, the last waves of the boy's orgasm crashing over him.

Avery moaned loudly as Severus quickened his pace again squeezing gently as he massaged the sensitive head of his penis. Feeling his orgasm mounting urgently he leaned in and brought their lips together in a tender kiss feeling it building until-

Avery came with a soft cry his lip still against Severus' his body tense as he came in thick white ribbons all over Severus' hand.

He pulled back slowly panting for breath he closed his eyes momentarily feeling Severus release his softening member. There was a shuffle and his eyes flew open as Severus moaned, his cum soaked hand moving towards his supple rosy lips. Avery bit his bottom lip watching as Severus trailed his tongue through his cum sucking his long slender fingers into his mouth licking his hand clean his dark eyes fixated on his lover's.

When he was finally finished, Severus snuggled back up to Avery entangling their legs under the covers smiling up at him sleepily.

"That was so fucking hot" Avery breathed making Severus blush furiously.

"You taste good" he muttered shyly.

"You're so gorgeous" Avery breathed kissing him softly on the lips. "Quite loud too" he chuckled.

Severus felt his cheeks burning on fire.

"Is that good or bad?"

"Very, VERY good" Avery grinned leaning in for another kiss.

The two boy's lay in silence for a while snuggled up together enjoying each other's company, Avery's fingers stroking through Severus' silky ebony locks. "Severus?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you" Avery said warmly.

Severus froze his eyes flashing open he gazed up into his lover's face his dark eyes searching Avery's warm ones.

Feeling awkward and visibly embarrassed Avery blushed "Sorry I shouldn't have said anything..."

Severus was quiet for a few moments before an enormous grin spread across his face. "You really love me? As in actually love me?" he asked excitedly.

Avery nodded "Yes of course, I've known for quite a while I was falling for you and well, I love you, Severus" he smiled.

"I love you too..." Severus breathed leaning in and capturing Avery's lips with his own. He couldn't believe it, Avery actually loved him, had been falling in love with him for a while so it wasn't just some random thing he really meant it and Severus loved him too. "You really mean it you aren't just messing around with me or saying it because of what we just did?" Severus asked hopefully and Avery chuckled.

"Don't be silly of course I mean it Sev, I do really love you" Avery smiled warmly stroking the side of Severus' face.

"I love you too, I wanted to tell you but love is such a big thing I was worried you might not feel the same, you aren't angry for thinking you were messing or saying it because of the masturbating are you?" Severus asked worriedly and Avery shook his head grinning.

"Of course I'm not angry don't be silly" he smiled kissing Severus again. "You can always be sure that whatever I say to you I am being totally honest babe, I wouldn't mess you around at all" he said softly.

"Thank you" Severus sniffled tears welling up in his eyes as he smiled at his boyfriend. "And I'm always honest with you and always will be, I really love you" he breathed.

"Good" Avery smiled gazing into his boyfriend's face. "Aw Sev are you crying?" he asked cuddling the smaller boy.

"I'm crying because I'm happy" Severus chuckled wiping the tears from his cheeks a smile still playing on his face.

"Aw that's so cute" Avery chuckled feeling the prickles in the back of his own eyes. "You'd better stop or I'm going to start crying too" he chuckled kissing Severus on the lips.

Severus chuckled kissing his boyfriend again before they both snuggled down wrapped in each other's arms.

"Goodnight gorgeous" Avery smiled closing his warm brown eyes.

"Goodnight" Severus breathed, and with a smile on his face and a flutter in his heart.

It wasn't long before they were both fast asleep in each other's arms.

Two weeks passed and now at eleven weeks pregnant, Severus was starting to show a little bit more. He had gained a small amount of weight all over and now his trousers were becoming very snug he couldn't get them done up at all so he had been covering them with his jumper and shirt in hopes to hide until he could get into Hogsmeade and buy a bigger pair.

"One more week until the first proper scan, excited?" Severus asked as the two boys sat right up the far back corner in the library doing homework together.

"Very, I can't wait to see what's going on inside of you your bump is getting a little bigger now" Avery grinned.

"I know I just hope everything's alright, you know I never knew being pregnant could be so worrying" Severus sighed absent mindedly resting a hand on his bump.

"Everything will be okay, you'll see, it's natural to worry about the unborn baby especially now because you can't see him or her or feel them yet" Avery replied.

"Yeah I think once I've seen the baby again and know that it's alright then things will be much better, I'm starting to grow now so it's catching my attention a lot more now I'm excited for when the baby does start kicking me but that won't be for a while yet"

"I can't wait until you have a proper bump to touch" Avery smiled warmly as he gently stroked his fingers over Severus' tummy.

"Me neither but I am still very worried about the other people what they will say when they see my bump" Severus said chewing nervously on his bottom lip.

"We don't need to tell them until we feel ready besides I think I've worked out a good way of telling them" Avery smiled shifting closer to his boyfriend.

"How?" Severus blinked up at him.

"What about we just don't tell them until something happens, let them figure it out for themselves just after the scan stop acting like we're hiding it" Avery smiled. "I don't mean go parading it round in front of everyone making a massive show of it just like act normally and don't try to hide it, if they ask then we can tell them"

Severus was quiet for a few moments before he smiled. "I like that idea"

"I wonder what Mulciber will say when he finds out, he still hasn't come round but I bet when he does find out he's going to be in for a shock" Avery mused wrapping his arms around Severus.

"Yeah I reckon he'll eat his words" Severus chuckled nervously.

"But it will all be worth it, you're having our baby and it's going to be so incredibly amazing" Avery breathed leaning in and kissing his boyfriend on the cheek.

"You're right" Severus smiled. "I think I'm going to send an owl home to my mum and tell her about the baby after the first scan I don't know how she will react though she doesn't know anything about my sexual preferences" he cringed slightly.

"Don't worry I'm sure it will all be fine, if you like I'll tell my parents at the same time we can send our owl's off together" Avery said.

"That would be great then I guess at least it's done and one less thing to worry about" Severus grinned.

"Yeah so how do you fancy packing our stuff up and going back up to the dormitory for a nice warm bath and an early night?" Avery offered and Severus nodded quickly.

"I'd love that" Severus smiled leaning in and kissing his boyfriend softly on the lips.

They packed up their things, Avery reached out and took Severus' bag out of his hands before he could sling it over his shoulder and slung it over his own smiling at his lover. "I'll carry it for you"

Severus blushed slightly and smiled back "You don't have to..."

"But I want to" Avery grinned holding out his hand. "Come on let's get you in the bath and relaxed" he said as Severus took him by the hand.

"You always make me so relaxed" Severus said as they left the library and headed towards the stairs.

"That's a good thing right?"

Severus nodded.

"I wanna make sure you're comfortable, warm and relaxed in just over six months the baby will be here and there won't be too much time to relax then so you might as well make the most of it" Avery said happily.

"Yeah I guess you're right and when I get really big I'm not exactly going to be overly comfortable so I suppose I should make the most of everything now while I still can" Severus replied.

"And why not lie back and let me take care of things for you I just wanna help you and see you happy and comfortable, the happier and more relaxed you are the better it is for the baby" Avery said as they walked down through the entrance hall and into the dungeon corridor.

"It sounds good to me, I'm usually independent but the thought of lounging in bed or in the bath whilst you rub me all over is extremely nice" Severus sighed happily.

Avery glanced at him and couldn't help but smirk.

"Not like that you perv!" Severus laughed. "Well actually yeah I don't mind that either" he blushed.

"You seem to like it when I rub certain parts of you" Avery grinned making Severus blush even further. "Yeah in fact you can become very vocal when I stroke your thing"

"It feels good and it's not like you don't agree with that when I touch you" Severus blushed even further as they entered the common room together.

"Never said I didn't besides it feels great to be touched by you" Avery grinned.

"You too" Severus blushed slightly again, since the first time he had a few more sessions of mutual masturbation and making out but it was yet to go any further.

They headed up into the dormitory bathroom, Avery locked the door and wiped the bath round before turning on the taps, warm water and bubbles pouring from each one.

"Do you want to join me again?" Severus smiled warmly.

"I'd love to" Avery grinned walking over to his boyfriend kissing him softly on the lips before he began to strip Severus of his clothing. "You're looking really well you know, you seem to be getting I don't know how to explain it but you look brighter and healthier than you did before"

"Probably my hormones, the potion is really helping me and the fact I'm incredibly happy all the time is making things better" Severus sighed happily as he felt his underwear falling to the floor.

"Mm well whatever it is it's exciting me" Avery smiled pressing his lips to Severus' neck.

Severus reached up nervously and began to pull his boyfriend's clothes off fumbling with the buttons he managed to drop them all to the floor so both boy's stood stark naked in front of each other.

"I'm just gonna turn the taps off then we can get in" Avery smiled reaching over the side of the bath and turning the taps. The bath by now was completely full of water. Smiling he turned back to Severus and took him by the hand. "Come on let's get in the water looks and smells great" he smiled.

"Not as nice as you though" Severus blushed slightly watching the grin spread across his lover's face.

Avery grinned as he hopped into the water holding out his hands he carefully helped Severus in after him pulling him straight in so they were up to their chests in the warm luxurious water. He draped his arms around Severus pulling the smaller boy closer kissing him on the lips again.

"You're gorgeous" Avery breathed his fingers stroking through Severus' hair.

"So are you" Severus half moaned.

They drew apart slowly gazing into each other's eyes.

"Mm turn around and let me rub your back" Avery practically purred. With a smile on his face, Severus turned around feeling his boyfriend's hands sink into his shoulders massaging them thoroughly. Severus groaned relaxing back into his lover's touch, he could definitely get used to this.

"Feels really nice" Severus breathed.

"It should do, I reckon it might help with your aches and keep you from swelling" Avery replied happily.

"Someone's been doing his research"

Avery chuckled. "Well I want to make sure I can do things for you, some people start getting swollen hands and ankles from two months pregnant, you aren't swollen yet but I think this might help keep everything down for your own comfort"

"It does help a lot with my comfort, I can go to bed with that freshly bathed cuddly feeling all nice and relaxed and wake up the next morning in a really good mood and thanks to the potion, no more sickness!" Severus beamed turning around to face Avery.

"Yeah you were really sick, I'm glad you're feeling better because I was so worried about you when it was happening" Avery frowned slightly a worried expression crossing his face.

"That's really sweet, I'm okay now though" Severus grinned leaning in and kissing him on the lips.

"Mm good, now let me wash you" Avery smirked making Severus blush furiously.

About half an hour later the two of them finally emerged, heading back into the dormitory they dressed in their pyjamas just in time for the other's coming back so thankfully none of them saw the little bump Severus was growing.

"Bed already?" Mulciber commented heading over to his own.

"Yeah thought we'd have an early night" Severus replied watching Avery slip under the covers and he smiled.

"Fair enough, you two are always sleeping what's up with that?" Mulciber replied watching as Severus climbed in beside Avery snuggling up against him.

The two boys glanced at each other.

"Just getting plenty of rest, can never have too much of it who knows what might happen one day something might come along and disrupt it" Avery smiled stroking his fingers through Severus' hair in a loving gesture.

Mulciber and Evan exchanged confused, suspicious glances before shaking their heads. "Whatever that's kind of a strange thing to say"

"Not really" Severus smiled.

"Whatever this is about we probably don't want to know" Evan sighed shaking his head as he began to get changed for bed.

Both Severus and Avery laughed. "Goodnight" they called as Severus reached up and pulled the emerald drapes shut around their bed shutting them off from the two other boys.

"Mm hey there beautiful" Avery breathed pulling Severus in for a warm tender kiss.

"Hey there gorgeous" Severus said shyly.

"You're cute when you're shy" Avery grinned cuddling Severus gently in his arms.

Severus blushed furiously trying to hide his face in his boyfriend's neck.

"Actually, you're cute all the time" Avery added. Severus' face was so hot he thought he was going to explode.

"You're always hot I don't know how you manage it but no matter what you do you're hot" Severus flushed.

"Thank you, Sev, I really love you so much" Avery breathed.

"I love you too, like really love you" Severus breathed pressing his lips to his lover's cheek.

"I'm glad" Avery smiled. "Let's get some sleep"

"Okay" Severus nodded lying so their noses were barely an inch apart cuddled up together under the soft, warm bed covers.

"Goodnight, sweet dreams" Avery breathed.

"Yeah night, sweet dreams" Severus smiled closing his dark eyes a warm fuzzy feeling in the pit of his stomach.

A few days passed and everything was going smoothly, Severus and Avery were lounging in the common room one afternoon gazing at the fire feeling completely relaxed and happy.

"I think we'll need to make a Hogsmeade trip in the near future" Severus said quietly.

"Mm? what for?" Avery asked gazing down at his lover stroking his fingers through his long silky hair.

"I really can't get my trousers done up I'm leaving them open" Severus blushed gazing up into Avery's heart warmingly brown eyes.

Avery couldn't help but snicker and laugh.

"It's not funny" Severus pouted.

"No but it is cute though, you've got a little bump and now you can't wear your school trousers or your plain clothes either" Avery smiled.

"Yeah I have a feeling I'm going to end up in pyjama bottoms before the week is out" Severus flushed.

"Well that's alright, got to think of your own comfort as well as the baby's" Avery said resting a careful hand on Severus' tummy.

"Yeah you're right" Severus smiled cuddling up to his boyfriend enjoying the sensations of him stroking over his growing baby bump. "Baby comes first"

"I wonder what the baby will be like" Avery sighed.

"What do you mean?"

"As in what will it look like, will it be a boy or a girl, how big is it going to be when it's born, what will its likes and dislikes be?" Avery mused.

"Well I'm guessing he or she will have black hair and brown or black eyes, pale skin uhh I don't really know what else I'd be over the moon if baby had your nose" Severus smiled up at his lover.

"Aint a thing wrong with your nose" Avery smiled leaning down and kissing the tip of it.

"I'd really love for it to take your accent" Severus sighed happily. "It would be cute on a child, but your accent with your soft voice is amazing"

"Might do if it's around me and my family a lot it will" Avery grinned.

"Good because I love your accent it's enough to make me pre" Severus blushed furiously.

"Just mine or any other person with a Manchester accent?" Avery teased making Severus wrinkle his nose playfully.

"Just you f course, I never really thought much of it until I first heard you speak and almost shot into my boxers" Severus blushed grinning at the rosy glow creeping up onto the apples of his boyfriend's cheeks.

"Well maybe I should talk a bit more often then" Avery grinned putting extra emphasis on his accent watching the way Severus convulsed at the sound of it.

Grinning madly, he leaned down and kissed him.

The rest of the week dragged by slowly, the weekend passed nicely with Avery completely pampering Severus as usual even packing away some of his old clothes that were growing too tight for him or those that wouldn't fit him within the next few weeks and organising his trunk again.

It was the morning of the first scan and Avery was awake before Severus lying cuddled up to him gazing down at the smaller boy sleeping peacefully with his right thumb in his mouth, his left one jammed down the front of his underwear as usual his fingers curled around his soft penis.

"Adorable" Avery breathed pressing his lips to Severus' forehead a hand gently stroking over his side. Severus was definitely starting to gain weight and his hips were becoming a little more curved to support the weight of the baby inside of him. Avery grinned, just over an hour and they would be able to see the baby in a proper scan for the first time.

Avery's face broke out into a warm smile as Severus began to stir.

"Sev... wake up, Sev" he said softly giving his lover a gentle shake.

"Mmph?" Severus half groaned half sighed his thumb still in his mouth.

"We've got the first scan this morning" Avery tried and Severus' eyes fluttered open. "Morning" Avery smiled watching Severus slowly pull his thumb from his mouth.

"Good morning" Severus said brightly. "Excited?"

"Very, so come on let's get ready" Avery grinned.

The two boys slipped out from under the covers, Severus picked up his wand casting 'Aguamenti' and drinking from his goblet.

"No potion this morning?" Avery asked noting how Severus didn't bother with any last night either.

"Nah I don't think I need it any more, besides it's supposed to wear off by about ten to fourteen weeks any way and I've been drinking so much less of it I haven't felt sick once" Severus said happily reaching for his uniform.

"That's great, glad you're feeling better" Avery smiled looking up at Severus as the smaller boy pulled his top off.

"Stop everything!" Avery said making Severus jump as he marched around the bed instantly pulling Severus into his arms.

"What's wrong?" Severus asked worriedly.

"The fact that if you get any hotter I am not going to have any physical control left you'll be soaked in cum before you realise what's happened" Avery growled with excitement sinking his teeth into Severus' neck.

The smaller boy moaned softly allowing his eyes to flutter shut, well this was one way to make him instantly hard.

"You're making me horny..." Severus breathed allowing Avery to suckle lightly on the pulse point of his neck.

"Like the idea of being covered in cum then?" Avery whispered against his supple skin. Severus nodded slowly feeling the blush creeping back onto his cheeks.

"We'll definitely have to do that sometime" Avery grinned moving to kiss Severus on the lips again.

"Mm I can't wait" Severus breathed.

Drawing back they continued to dress themselves, Severus quickly reached for his trousers, pulling them on he sighed. There was just no way he could wear them.

"I told you I wasn't going to be able to wear my trousers much longer" Severus groaned.

"Aww I'd let you wear a pair of mine but they're about the same size as yours in the waist and they'd be kinda long" Avery smiled.

"Yeah it looks like I'll be wearing my pyjamas after all" Severus sighed opening his trunk and pulling out a pair of dark green pyjama bottoms. "I'm gonna look like such an idiot" he groaned.

"No you won't you'll look fine, remember it's all about the comfort and at least you'll be covered up in those and not risk having your bits hanging out for the world to see" Avery chuckled and Severus blushed.

"Yeah I guess that would be a bad thing" Severus cringed slightly as he pulled them on gazing down at himself worriedly. "Do they look really bad?"

"No actually I find them rather... sexy" Avery flushed slightly and Severus grinned.

"Maybe they aren't so bad after all"

They dressed quickly and left the dormitory without so much as exchanging a brief 'good morning' with Mulciber or Evan.

"I'm really excited I hope everything is okay" Severus said as they walked down through the common room hand in hand.

"I'm sure it will be, Pomfrey said the baby was fine weeks ago and you're growing" Avery smiled giving Severus' hand a reassuring squeeze.

"Yeah but I still can't help but worry, I actually have something living in my tummy living off the things I do and put into my body" Severus replied resting a hand on his stomach.

"Well of course it's natural to feel like that" Avery grinned. "You're letting another little person live inside you, get bigger and grow in you you're bound to worry about them"

"I know and I'm happy about it, I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you I wouldn't be nearly as relaxed, still happy but scared shitless" Severus smiled warmly up at his boyfriend.

"You'll be absolutely fine, I'll be here to look after you we've got your book and we can ask Pomfrey about anything you like just to settle your nerves, you're three months pregnant today another six and it will be time to have the baby" Avery grinned excitedly as they headed along the dungeon corridor and out into the entrance hall.

"I know and the thought of that is so scary but I'm really counting on you to help me through it"

"Don't worry, Sev, I'll be by your side the whole way through" Avery smiled leaning down and pecking Severus' cheek.

They walked up the stairs and headed out along to the hospital wing stopping outside the door Avery took a deep nervous breath. "Ready?" he asked looking down at Severus who looked equally as nervous.

"Ready!" he nodded pecking his lover on the lips before they went inside shutting the door tightly behind them.

They walked into the warm comfortable hospital wing, the smell of cleaning solution strong in the air. Madame Pomfrey looked up from where she was making one of the beds.

"Good morning boy's" she greeted her eyebrows raised slightly with surprise, so this must be the baby's father. "Severus how are you feeling?" she asked gently.

"So much better my potion has really been helping I'm not taking it so much anymore and haven't had any since yesterday morning, I feel absolutely fine so hopefully my morning sickness has finished" he said.

"Very good yes morning sickness usually does wear off by now, some find it may last longer and other's that it doesn't go away or returns later in the pregnancy which is still normal it's just the changing levels of hormones and tiredness" she replied finishing off one of the beds.

"Right, follow me behind the curtain and we can get started" she said beckoning for them to follow her.

Nervously the two boys shuffled behind the curtain to where the bed was freshly made up from last time and everything was already set up for him. Madame Pomfrey pulled the long draping white curtain closed shielding the view from potential on-lookers.

"If you'll lie back on the bed, make yourself comfortable and fully expose your navel for me please" the nurse said gesturing towards the bed.

Severus hopped up as Avery moved around to stand on his left hand side watching intently as he began to open his clothes revealing his bump.

"Very good, I see you're getting your bump now" she nodded. "In the next few weeks the bump will really begin to grow you'll have a proper one in no time but you also won't be able to hide it for much longer either" she replied snapping on a fresh pair of latex gloves.

"I know I'm really nervous about what people are going to say but at the same time I feel okay about it" Severus breathed.

"That's good, have you had any problems since the last scan, or any concerns?" she asked.

Severus shook his head. "Apart from worries about the baby and the birth nothing"

"Yes that's fine we can go over some of the issues and things you should expect to see very soon after the scan and we can start to think about a birth plan, it might seem early still but time will fly by and it gives you a chance to think of what is best for you and what you feel comfortable with" she replied pulling out a tube of clear lubricant squeezing a fair amount of the gel onto his stomach and spreading it around with her fingers.

"I assume you're the father?" she smiled looking up at Avery who nodded quickly a warm smile on his face. "It's good to see you supporting Severus he'll need that especially as the months go on"

"I'll always be here for him" Avery said softly as he look Severus' left hand in his own gazing down at his lover.

"That's very good" the nurse nodded.

Drawing back she pulled out her wand and tapped it against the top of the ultra sound machine watching it whir into life, she picked up the scanner from the hooks on the side and turned to Severus.

"Are you ready?"

Severus and Avery exchanged a warm smile before he turned his attention back to her and nodded. "Ready"

Madame Pomfrey lowered the ultra sound scan pressing it carefully to his bump she moved it around looking at the screen as the picture came into focus.

"There's your baby" she smiled pointing at the screen.

Both Severus and Avery's mouths fell open and Severus gasped.

"Oh my god..." he breathed unable to look away at the little human figure moving and kicking its legs.

"It's beautiful" Avery breathed his warm brown eyes brimming with tears as he gaze in awe at the tiny person on the screen then looked to Severus' tummy and back again.

"Are you crying?" Severus sniffled tears in his own dark eyes as he looked up to his lover.

Avery chuckled and sniffed wiping the tears from his cheeks. "I can't help it, it's emotional"

"It's amazing" Severus breathed turning his eyes back to the screen.

Reaching out, Madame Pomfrey tapped the monitor again and a rumbling sound a bit like trains sounded into the air.

"What's that?" Avery asked confusedly.

"That would be the sound of your baby's heart beating" Madame Pomfrey smiled.

Avery looked like he was about to burst into tears of joy and held on tightly to Severus' hand with both of his own bringing his fingers to his lips and kissing them softly.

"It sounds and looks perfectly healthy, nice and strong and clear which is a brilliant sign the baby is doing well and getting everything it needs" Madame Pomfrey explained shifting the scanner a little. "Baby now measures just over two inches long so a little bigger than your thumb, about the length of a lime fruit" she explained.

"That's so cute" Severus smiled.

"Baby is also filling out so it may seem a little bigger in size, and the reflexes are forming so basically if you poke your stomach the baby will squirm or wriggle in response but you won't be able to feel it just yet" Madame Pomfrey smiled twisting the scanner a little and zooming in on the baby. "You might also be interested to know that it will be capable of a lot of movement and is practicing sucking movements"

"This is amazing... just incredible" Avery breathed gazing lovingly at the screen.

"Everything looks absolutely fine in there, nice and healthy the baby is growing well so make sure you continue eating properly and getting lots of sleep, you might find you get some sleep disturbances around this time but next week you are going to be fully into your second trimester so you'll notice your comfort levels increase you won't be as tired, you'll feel much fitter, the morning sickness should completely go and you might find a distinct rise in libido" Madame Pomfrey explained removing the scanner and pressing a button on the ultra sound machine.

Severus and Avery exchanged worried glances.

"Is it okay to-"

"Have sexual intercourse?" Madame Pomfrey asked and both of them blushed.

"We haven't had proper sex so we're technically still virgins" Avery said feeling the heat creeping up onto his own cheeks with embarrassment.

"Either way sexual acts and intercourse itself is perfectly safe during pregnancy, remember hygiene if it comes to anal just to be on the safe side anything else is fine" Madame Pomfrey said and both of them blushed even deeper.

She handed Severus a tissue to carefully wipe his navel clean and replace his clothing.

"Now let's talk birth plan, I'm going to give you some prenatal vitamins just to keep you boosted but you still need to make sure you are taking in around three hundred extra calories a day, use your book as a reference to guide you which what to eat and what to avoid as you have been doing already" Pomfrey explained as Severus straightened up his clothes.

"Okay I've been sure to pay close attention to the pregnancy book so I know what's safe and what's not and I have been eating plenty and sleeping quite a lot" Severus nodded.

"Good not only is sleep good for your body and good for the baby, as the pregnancy progresses you might find that you want to take naps more often especially in the final stages because once the baby arrives you might not be able to sleep as much" the nurse said. "Heart burn, light cramping and backache are common especially when you start to get bigger and your spine will curve slightly more from the weight of your abdomen" she said again.

"And how exactly will I be giving birth, what will happen to me I'm really nervous about it already?" Severus swallowed.

"It's natural to worry about it, most people find that it's the pain they are really worried about so if you want to I will have some drugs available for you to take whilst in labour which will ease the pains" Madame Pomfrey smiled calmly.

"Is it going to hurt a lot?" Avery asked curiously.

"It's difficult to say really, it hurts to some degree yes some say it hurts a lot worse than other's it purely depends on the person and their tolerance to the pain"

Severus groaned slightly with dismay. He was hoping she wasn't going to say that.

"Don't look so worried, I'm sure by the time you're about to drop you'll be saying you can't wait until the baby comes out of you" Madame Pomfrey chuckled noticing how Severus' face softened somewhat. "We don't need to worry too much about labour now but if you want you can read up on it sometimes that can help with the worry but we will need to talk birth again at the next scan there's no reason why you won't be capable of naturally delivering the baby so you'll just have to wait and see" Pomfrey smiled.

"Okay thank you" Severus nodded sliding off of the bed feeling slightly better as Avery hurried around to his side draping an arm around his lower back protectively.

"Here are your scan photos" Madame Pomfrey smiled handing them three photos each of the little baby at different angles.

"Aww that's so cute" Avery beamed.

"And these are the vitamins you need to take it explains all about them on the back" she said reaching onto the bedside table and lifting two bottles of vitamins and handing them to Severus who quickly put them into his bag.

"Thank you we really appreciate this" Severus smiled.

"It's no trouble boys, remember if you're worried about anything or you want to come back and talk then you're more than welcome to pop in any time" she nodded.

"Thanks again" Avery smiled as the two boys headed out from behind the curtain.

"I'll see you at eighteen weeks for your next scan, I'll notify you by then and we'll be able to tell if it's a boy or a girl" The nurse smiled as the two boys grinned excitedly to one another.

"See you soon" Severus said as they left the hospital wing hand in hand.

Once they were outside, Avery pulled Severus into his arms cuddling him gently against his chest. "Oh Sev I can't believe we're having a baby" he breathed kissing the top of Severus' head.

"I never had you down for being so soft and emotional on the inside, it's really quite amazing" Severus chuckled.

"Despite what people think about me I'm not all bad, they just don't know me anywhere near as well as you do" Avery smiled drawing back to gaze into Severus' eyes. "That was brilliant I can't believe you didn't tell me it was going to be so emotional" he sighed happily.

"Well my first scan wasn't so emotional I was in terrible shock and I was alone and feeling like dog dirt but this one I agree was amazing" Severus beamed happily.

"You're beautiful when you smile" Avery said brightly.

"You too" Severus breathed leaning in and kissing him on the lips in a warm passionate kiss that lasted several minutes before they pulled apart.

"Shall we go down and get some breakfast?" Avery asked happily and Severus nodded.

"I'd love some and umm... you know first lesson is kind of a study period?" Severus asked shyly fiddling with the material of his boyfriend's cloak.

"Yes...?"

"Well I was thinking if you'd like to then maybe we could umm, if you want to that is, to go back to the dormitory and... celebrate with a little bit of... fun?" Severus blushed furiously.

An enormous grin broke out on Avery's face a bright twinkling in his warm brown eyes. "Severus I would fucking love to" he beamed taking his lover by the hand as they headed off down the corridor together.

The great hall was packed as usual by the time they arrived down there, heading over to the Slytherin tables looking unusually bright and cheerful they dropped into their seats with their friends still not making full eye contact, none of them seemed to notice the fact Severus was wearing his pyjama bottoms.

"Morning, where have you two been?" Evan asked spreading jam over his toast.

"Just for a check-up with Madame Pomfrey" Severus smiled to himself loading his plate with food.

"Everything alright?" Regulus asked.

"Oh yes everything is absolutely fine" Severus grinned exchanging looks with Avery.

"That's good then" Mulciber commented without looking up from his breakfast.

"Make sure you eat plenty" Avery pointed to Severus.

"I am" Severus chuckled sipping his pumpkin juice.

The others all glanced at the two of them suspiciously for a few moments watching Avery lean over and kiss Severus on the cheek.

After a relatively quiet breakfast the two boys got up from the table waving their goodbyes as they headed out into the entrance hall walking hand in hand towards the dungeons.

"I'm glad my morning sickness has gone away" Severus smiled. "Hopefully I won't need my potion anymore"

"Madame Pomfrey said it should be wearing off now anyway which is great, you're supposed to be entering the most comfortable part of pregnancy" Avery replied.

"Yeah I'm excited to get bigger although still worried about the rest of the school but I'm looking forward to feeling the little kicks" Severus grinned resting a hand on his little bump.

"Me too" Avery beamed.

"I never thought I'd feel this happy about being a knocked up teenaged boy but surprisingly I couldn't be happier and it's all because of you, Will" Severus grinned up at his lover.

"I never thought I'd be this happy about knocking up a teenage boy" Avery grinned. "It's all because of you, Sev" he added with a warm smile.

They headed down the dungeon corridor and through the common room smiles on their faces. They headed up into the dormitory feeling rather excited.

Closing the door, Avery turned to Severus a smile on his face as he gazed down into those dark eyes taking a step forward holding Severus' hands in his own he leaned down and brought their lips together in a passionate kiss deepening it immediately, their mouths moving softly against each other, their lips parted slightly.

Severus moaned into Avery's mouth their tongues moving rhythmically together inside Severus' mouth. They slowly started backing up heading towards the bed stopping right in front of it they parted from the kiss panting slightly for breath.

"I'm really horny..." Severus breathed against his boyfriend's lips.

"Me too" Avery replied his fingers moving to push Severus' cloak over his shoulders sighing amusedly as it fell to the floor along with his tie. "I want to see your beautiful body" Avery half moaned pulling off Severus' school jumper and immediately pulling open the buttons on his shirt exposing his pale chest, rosy nipples and growing baby bump.

"Mm very nice" he breathed again leaning down swirling the tip of his tongue around an unprotected nipple listening to the joyful little whimpers Severus emitted, the way he convulsed with pleasure as Avery continued to stimulate the over sensitive nipples.

Severus reached forward pushing Avery's cloak, jumper and shirt to the ground as quickly as he could his hands moving to caress his lovers toned pale sides. "Oohh so hot" he groaned biting his bottom lip as Avery straightened up. Severus couldn't help but admired his lovers upper body how smooth and immaculate the skin was, his lightly toned stomach and chest, that dark sprinkling of hair in a line disappearing into his trousers.

"Come here" Severus said pulling out his wand and taking Avery's hands. "Scourgify" he said watching the pink soap bubbles appear on their hands the familiar tingling as he put down his wand and watched them disappear leaving their hands sparkling clean. "Perfect" he said running his hands over his boyfriend's chest taking in every curve and line.

They grinned to one another leaning in bringing their lips down in a passionate strong kiss, their tongues rolling against one another their hands roaming all over each other's bodies. Severus moaned falling into Avery's arms as his pyjama bottoms fell around his ankles so he stood in his navy boxer shorts his erection straining against the fabric. Nervously he reached for the button on Avery's trousers and opened then tugging down the zip tooth by tooth.

Avery moaned into his mouth a hand slipping around the back of his neck pulling Severus in for a deeper kiss as Severus pushed Avery's trousers down, they fell to the floor with a soft thump and he stepped out of them quickly so he was just in his baggy boxer shorts.

Drawing back they gazed into each other's eyes breathing heavily, their lips red and swollen from the kissing.

"I want to try something" Severus breathed gently running his hands over Avery's long thick member straining against the fabric of his underwear.

"What's that?" Avery asked curiously heat rising to his cheeks with arousal as Severus continued to stroke him through his underwear. Slowly he hooked his fingers into the waist band of his lover's underwear and glancing up at him questioningly Avery smiled and Severus pulled them down pushing them until they fell around his ankles.

Severus blushed furiously averting his eyes for a few seconds before he whispered "Sit on the edge of the bed"

Avery stared at him slightly confused but complied anyway making himself comfortable gazing up at Severus with curiosity and arousal.

Severus moved in front of Avery dropping to his knees he shuffled closer and took his lover's member in his hand biting his bottom lip and moaning at the size of it as he gazed lovingly at it.

Slowly he leaned forward parting his lips he looked up into Avery's handsome face as he took the head of his lover's throbbing erection into his mouth.

Avery moaned loudly spreading his legs a little with pleasure gazing down into Severus' face. "You don't have to..."

"But I want to" Severus half moaned against the member in his mouth sending small sensual vibrations through the length making him shudder with excitement. "If that's okay with you?" Severus breathed his dark eyes hazy with lust.

"I'd love you to"

With that Severus parted his lips again and took Avery's member back into his mouth giving it a nervous suck. Avery moaned and Severus' eyes flew open to watch the expressions on his lover's face and he couldn't help but moan sucking Avery's cock harder.

Avery's hands flew into Severus' hair stroking through it as he gazed down in awe at the smaller boy on his knees before him his pretty pink lips wrapped around his throbbing leaking erection moaning against it as one hand trailed down...

Avery moaned loudly watching Severus slide a hand into his own underwear and pull his own penis out stroking it slowly in time with his mouth still gazing up at Avery in such a submissive way.

"Beautiful..." Avery breathed stroking the side of Severus' face as he pulled back swirling his tongue around the leaking slit lapping up the beads of glistening fluid and moaning in pleasure.

"You taste good" Severus breathed stroking himself faster.

Avery moaned loudly and gasped as Severus engulfed the head of his thick member in his mouth again sucking on it roughly taking him further into his mouth. Severus moaned softly with each movement as he quickened his pace on his hand and on his lover's penis swirling his tongue around the bottom as he continued to suck hard.

The air was filled with their soft gasps and moans as Severus picked up his pace again sucking roughly on his lovers penis stroking himself quickly in time with the movements.

"Sev... Severus if you keep doing that I-I'm gonna..." Avery panted his cheeks glowing his eyes half lidded.

Severus looked up straight into his lover's eyes and moaned loudly sucking him harder and faster stroking himself furiously in time with his movements whimpering with pleasure.

All too soon Avery could feel that familiar rush descending through his body as it built rapidly, he moaned loudly spreading his legs further feeling Severus cupping his balls sucking more and more urgently on him moaning, his cheeks rosy with arousal. Reaching out Avery stroked his fingers through Severus' hair gazing down into his pretty face he met his eyes and Severus moaned again. Reaching a hand down he stroked his fingers over Severus' oh so sensitive nipples, the expression on his face washed with pure pleasure as Avery touched him and that was all it took.

Avery's entire body tensed up as the rush built and burst and he came into his boyfriend's mouth.

Severus' eyes flashed wide open feeling the hot liquid spilling into his mouth he swallowed some before pulling back enough allowing the rest to pour onto his face, he cried out with pleasure when Avery looked at him, he came hard all over his hand moaning in pleasure.

Slowly the pleasure began to decrease and Avery closed his brown eyes in a long slow blink before gazing lovingly at Severus. Severus caught his eye as he audibly swallowing the load in his mouth and reaching forward to trace his tongue across the overly sensitive glans of Avery's penis licking him clean.

Severus pulled back a way still holding his now soft penis in his right hand, his swollen rosy lips parted a little, his eyes wide and innocent with the white fluid all over his inner cheek trickling down his face a little. Avery bit back a moan before he whispered. "Beautiful"

Severus flushed a little lifting his soiled hand to his lips trailing his tongue through his own warm seed without breaking eye contact from Avery still kneeling on the floor between his legs.

Avery watched his breathing returning to normal as Severus sucked his fingers clean before trailing those slender fingers through the seed on his face sucking them lightly and moaning softly.

"That is so incredibly hot" Avery moaned watching Severus clean up the mess until every single drop was gone.

The two boys sat gazing at each other, warm smiles on their faces before Avery reached forward and gently pulled Severus up pressing their lips together in the tenderest of kisses.

"Beautiful" he breathed again turning to lie on his side pulling Severus down onto the bed with him.

"You're beautiful" Severus blushed slightly still coming down from his orgasmic high.

"Mm come here" Avery grinned pulling Severus into his arms snuggling up to him. "That was really amazing, Sev, next time I want to try doing it to you"

"You tasted brilliant" Severus grinned kissing his boyfriend softly on the lips.

Avery smiled warmly and without another word kissed Severus softly but passionately on the lips again.

Things were definitely improving what with the perfect baby scan that morning, the fact they were on speaking terms with the other's again and that he and Severus were drawing forever closer. Avery smiled to himself, he couldn't wait to see what the next few weeks and months had in store for them...


	6. Chapter 6

The rest of the day passed smoothly with no trouble coming from anybody. It was dinner time when Severus and Avery decided to come back from the library and head down for their dinner.

"I feel really sleepy" Severus yawned as they headed down the last flight of stairs into the entrance hall.

"After dinner we can go back up to the dormitory and relax if you like" Avery smiled.

"Definitely, can we have a cuddle and read some of my book?" Severus asked hopefully and Avery nodded happily.

"That sounds good to me, can never be too prepared" he chuckled as they made their way into the buy great hall. They walked hand in hand over to the Slytherin table dropping into their seats along the bench side by side exchanging glances with their friends.

Although things had improved a fair bit, the tension in the air was still quite high and uncomfortable.

"Evening" Avery greeted.

"Alright? Where have you guys been?" Regulus asked curiously watching them pile their plates with food.

"Just in the library doing some homework and that" Severus half shrugged meeting Regulus' gaze.

"More like hiding behind the back of the bookshelves having a quiet feel up session..." Mulciber muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Avery asked sharply.

"Nothing"

"I didn't think so" Avery said coolly.

Mulciber had occasionally been dropping small, sly remarks into their conversations here and there just more proof that he still wasn't comfortable with the whole idea of them being in a relationship together, which he wasn't. It wasn't really that they were gay or anything it was just that Mulciber didn't like to have to deal with things that made him feel inferior, not in the sense that he didn't have a girlfriend but the fact that his best friend had not only been keeping secrets from him about being a homosexual, but kept the fact that he wanted one of his other friends as his lover, it upset him to think that Avery couldn't tell him about these things.

On the other hand he had never actually _asked _Avery whether he liked boys or girls he had always just assumed the latter and he never would have expected him to choose Severus of all people for his boyfriend, the bloke could get pretty much whoever he wanted especially in Slytherin where a fair few of the girls admired him and would blush and giggle around him and instead he chose a half blood, unattractive boy, Mulciber couldn't see the logic in it but he guessed that was probably because he didn't understand their love.

"Let's please not start arguing again I can't be fucked to listen to it" Evan said munching on his chips his eyes darting from Avery to Mulciber and then to Severus who sat quietly observing them.

"We aren't fighting" Mulciber said slowly.

"The atmosphere is so thick you could cut it with a severing charm" Regulus said awkwardly.

"It doesn't need to be, but I guess some people just want it that way" Avery commented flatly.

"I never said I wanted it like this" Mulciber replied.

The two boys stared hard at each other for a few moments, Evan, Regulus and Severus sat silently eating their dinner trying not to look at either of them frightened of the slightest little thing setting one of them off and starting a blazing row between the two friends.

"Umm" Severus said in a small voice. "Are you finished eating yet?"

Avery shook his head a little reaching out and downing his drink he pushed his plate away dropping his knife and fork into the small pool of leftover gravy on it. "Yes let's go" he smiled getting to his feet and holding out his hand for Severus.

"See you in the dormitory" Severus said before they left the great hall hand in hand and headed back out into the entrance hall.

"Sorry about that with Mulciber, I guess he just hasn't gotten over any of this yet" Avery said as they made their way down the dungeon corridor.

"It's alright I understand, he obviously has some problems with us and I wasn't expecting him to get used to us after only a few weeks and he still knows nothing about the baby" Severus replied with a warm smile.

"Well, all I care about right now is you and the baby I don't want you to get upset or anything because of the way he is acting, I know I'm probably in the wrong for retaliating to him but I can't help it his attitude is terrible and I don't want him to cause you any upset" Avery said as they made their way down into the common room.

"He's not upsetting me don't worry all I want is a cuddle and to relax and hope that everything will settle down maybe in time he will decide to come round when he gets used to it I don't think that when I'm nine months pregnant, sweating, exhausted and about to drop that I can cope with his behaviour" Severus replied with a smile.

"I really admire the way you can be so good about things, and so mature a lot of people couldn't handle this situation and I feel really lucky that you aren't some unstable little teenager that I have to worry about to the extreme, I mean, I do worry about you a lot but I'm always with you and I know you can handle this with support so It's one less thing to panic about" Avery smiled back.

They headed up into the dormitory, kicking off their shoes and gratefully dropping their bags to the floor.

"Best thing to do about the Mulciber situation I think is to act natural, we aren't doing anything terrible or illegal he will get over it eventually because we aren't going to split up and he is going to have to realise that sooner or later" Severus said as he undressed quickly reaching for his fresh pyjamas.

"Yeah just let him alone one minute he seems better the next he's off in a mood again" Avery sighed heading over to the bathroom door. "Back in a second" he called disappearing through it.

Severus finished changing his clothes putting his shoes and bag under the bed he stood stroking his tummy for a few moments before the door clicked open and Avery reappeared a smile on his face. They switched places for Severus to go and have a wash and brush his teeth while Avery changed.

Minutes passed and now fully changed into his t-shirt and boxers, Avery lounged back on the bed watching as Severus remerged looking rather happy with himself.

"Come here" he said softly reaching out his arms and spreading his legs a little.

With a smile on his face, Severus moved and crawled onto the bed sitting between Avery's legs the taller boy pulled him back so he was lying against him both half sitting and lying down. Avery's hands moved immediately to slip under the hem of Severus' pyjama top and stroke his exposed little bump.

"Mm I love it when you do that" Severus sighed happily. "Not too heavy to do this am I?"

Avery let out a short laugh "Heavy? You're pregnant and you still feel like a feather"

"I won't be so light in a few months-time" Severus chuckled enjoying the sensations tingling over his sensitive skin.

"Either way you'll still be gorgeous" Avery smiled "I'm actually looking forward to you having a proper bump I never thought I would be so happy about being a teenage dad and even more so getting another boy pregnant" he chuckled.

"I know I never even suspected I would get pregnant, well obviously because I'm a boy but you know something? I like to think of myself as quite a logical and sensible person but I've never been happier than I am now with you" Severus sighed happily.

"I know, me too babe" Avery smiled warmly still stroking Severus' bump.

Severus looked up warily as Mulciber and Evan came strolling back into the dormitory, Mulciber looked up and stared at them confusedly his eyes falling on Severus' stomach as he slung his bag on top of his trunk and started to get changed.

"What?" Severus asked relaxing slightly.

"Nothing you've gained a little weight that's all" Mulciber replied pulling on his night shirt. "That why you had your pyjama bottoms on?" he asked glancing back up at the two boys, Avery's fingers still smoothing over his bump.

"Yes I can't get my trousers done up anymore" Severus said awkwardly watching the smirk flicker across his friends face.

"Maybe you should go on a diet or something?" Evan suggested.

"No" Severus said quickly and the two of them stared at him. "I mean, no I'm fine I feel better this way" he smiled nervously.

"Fair enough" Mulciber said eyeing them suspiciously as he made his way into the bathroom.

"Comfy?" Avery asked and Severus nodded in response.

"Do you want to read some of the book?"

"Definitely, maybe we could look at the photos again?" Severus asked quietly, even though he had only just had the baby scan that very morning he still couldn't take his eyes off of the photos he had received from Madame Pomfrey.

"I'd love to, they're just so cute I want to know what he or she looks like when they arrive" Avery said quietly glancing over at Evan who was dressed in his pyjamas digging through his trunk looking for something.

"Hopefully like you, looks like you, talks like you when they learn to speak" Severus sighed happily as they shifted around, Severus reached into his cloak and pulled out the photo's as Avery found the book and they snuggled down in their little nest of blankets together looking at them grinning excitedly.

"Does it not feel weird to be pregnant?" Avery asked in a low voice.

Severus just smiled "Sometimes I think 'I'm actually pregnant and a boy how weird can it get' and I'm aware all the time that I'm pregnant, still tired and I get the odd few aches in my lower back and stuff but I feel pretty good"

"Before you were pregnant how you felt then, is it a lot different to how you feel now?" Avery asked curiously.

"Yes it does now it feels like everything has completely changed, I always feel pregnant even though I don't have a huge bump and I'm no longer being sick but it feels different in general, most likely my hormones" Severus chuckled snuggling up closer to his boyfriend.

"Everything has completely changed, for the better" Avery said warmly gazing into Severus' eyes. "Can I have a kiss?"

A grin spread across Severus' face as he leaned in and pressed his lips against Avery's in the most tender of kisses. And he moaned.

"If you two are having sex under there I'm going downstairs" Evan called making both of them blush.

"No we aren't we're just having a cuddle" Avery replied as Mulciber came back into the room his eyes fixated on where they were wrapped up in the bed covers and each other.

"Good cause I don't need the mental image of you two shagging" Mulciber commented.

"We haven't even had sex, except that one night three months ago now when you gave us that potion" Avery replied peeking out from under the covers.

"WHAT?"

This time both Severus and Avery sat up staring at their two friends.

"We haven't had proper sex" Severus said slowly his dark eyes flickering from one to the other both seemingly shocked.

"Don't look too surprised sex doesn't make a relationship, in fact I think it's rather like a meal, sex is the dessert never the main course" Avery said.

Severus immediately looked at him and beamed his eyes twinkling with happiness, this didn't go unnoticed by Evan or Mulciber. He couldn't believe it, Avery wasn't like other boys, Severus knew that a lot of the would be inclined to go for someone just for sex and to leave someone if they weren't getting it, or getting it enough but Avery, Avery was different he wanted to be with Severus for love not sex and that made Severus want to cry with happiness. Tears were prickling in his eyes and he reached up with his pyjama sleeve to try and wipe them away when the others weren't looking.

"Severus?" Avery asked his face filling with concern as he caught the tears welling in Severus' eyes a grin on his face as a couple over flowed spilling down his face.

"I'm okay" Severus breathed.

"No you're crying what's wrong, have I upset you?" Avery asked worriedly turning to face him.

"No I'm crying because I'm happy, maybe my hormones are making it worse but I'm happy with what you said about sex most guys would want sex and run" Severus sniffed wiping away the rest of his tears.

"Well I'm not like other guys, I love you and I want to be with you if sex came into the equation it would be the top layer of icing on the already decorated cake" Avery grinned leaning forward and kissing away Severus' tears.

"I'm really pleased you're like that, I know we do some sexual things but we haven't had sex and I feel so comfortable around you like I can trust you with absolutely anything and you won't judge me" Severus smiled.

"That's because I won't judge you and I love you so I'd never hurt you and I hope you feel the same way about me" Avery smiled back.

"I do you've really surprised me I never judged you I promise I'm surprised at how soft and cuddly you are and loving too, I always knew you had a softer side but I never realised how soft it was until we got together" Severus smiled warmly.

Avery grinned reaching up he pulled the curtains closed around their bed. "Is that a good thing?"

"Absolutely" Severus smiled leaning in for another kiss.

"I love you" Severus said when they drew apart slowly.

"I love you too, Severus" Avery breathed leaning in to kiss him again.

The next morning arrived and once again Severus didn't want to get out of bed.

"Come on, Severus we'll be late" Avery smirked pecking him on the cheek, he had managed to get up and fully dressed but Severus on the other hand didn't want to leave his warm, comfortable bundle of blankets.

Severus groaned snuggling himself down further refusing to open his eyes.

"You've gotten really lazy, Snape" Mulciber commented throwing things into his bag.

"I have a good excuse" Severus grumbled from under the covers.

"What is it?" Mulciber asked.

"Never mind that, come on Sev it's time to get up I've warmed your clothes for you and everything" Avery interrupted giving Severus a gentle shake.

There was a brief moment of silence before Severus sighed and finally decided to slip out from between his warm sheets rubbing his tired eyes he reached for his nice warm clothes.

Fifteen minutes later they were finally ready and out the door heading down for their breakfast, Evan and Mulciber had already gone ahead not wanting to wait for them any longer.

"Sorry I was in bed for so long this morning" Severus yawned as they strolled through the common room.

"It's no trouble don't worry about it, I understand" Avery smiled warmly.

"I can't help feeling so tired I just need some extra rest is all" Severus smiled.

"I know it's fine, maybe this weekend we could have a good long lie in, wouldn't do either of us any harm" Avery chuckled.

"I agree, sounds good to me" Severus smiled.

As they were walking out into the entrance hall a crowd of younger Slytherin boys, the year below in fact, turned their heads to stare at Severus as he passed them.

Severus frowned in confusion and looked to Avery.

"Is there something on my face, are my clothes dirty?" Severus asked immediately scanning over himself the only strange thing he could think of was the fact he still had pyjama bottoms on.

"No, why?" Avery asked confusedly.

"Just they were staring at me, really staring, that's all" Severus replied with a half shrug.

To his surprise Avery let out a small laugh. "I think I know why that is"

Severus stared.

"Because you look absolutely stunning, you always look stunning but there's something about you that just makes me want to fall into bed with you and never come out" Avery smiled a rosy blush glowing on the apples of his perfectly rounded cheeks.

"Aww thank you but I'm sure that's not why" Severus blushed back.

"I reckon it is and I reckon people might even be feeling a little jealous, you look gorgeous and I have you all to myself" Avery grinned his warm brown eyes twinkling merrily as he leaned over and pecked Severus on the cheek his lips lingering a moment as he inhaled Severus' sweet hormonal scent.

"You smell like a very horny male" Avery breathed making Severus' blush deepen to a horrifying crimson shade.

"That's because I am a very horny male, I'm starting to feel better now and my sex drive is slowly on the increase" Severus admitted shyly making Avery's grin spread even further.

They dropped into their seats at the breakfast table, Severus still blushing and Avery still grinning to himself.

"What do you look so happy about?" Wilkes asked.

"Ohh nothing just enjoying a nice smell" Avery smirked.

"Ugh if it's that after shave that's in the bathroom there's nothing nice about that, EVAN" Mulciber said turning to his friend who angrily stabbed a sausage with his fork.

"It wasn't my choice my aunt bought it for me" he grumbled.

"Isn't your aunt Druella Black?" Severus quirked an eyebrow.

Evan nodded.

"Yeah so technically she's my aunt by marriage" Regulus commented. "She's the mother of my cousins Bellatrix, Andromeda and Narcissa" he added with a shrug.

"Mm I remember seeing Narcissa around when she was here up until we were in what, third year? That girl's hot" Mulciber mused dreamily until Regulus thumped him in the ribs.

"That's my cousin, don't be gross"

"Thought your family had a thing for cousins, Black" Mulciber laughed pulling Regulus into a headlock.

The rest of breakfast continued in that fashion until the group of boys got up and started making their way slowly to lessons, they waved Regulus and Wilkes off at the stairs before heading down into the dungeons for potions.

They stopped outside the classroom as usual waiting for Slughorn to let them in.

"Come here" Avery smiled completely ignoring the fact the Marauders were staring at them and pulled Severus into his arms gazing into his eyes.

"Can I kiss you?" Avery asked at almost a whisper.

With a smile Severus nodded his breath catching in his throat as Avery leaned in and pressed his lips softly to Severus'.

Mulciber's aw clenched as he stood barely a few feet away pressed up against the cold stone wall, he had never seen them kissing before until now and even he had to admit they looked very happy.

A loud gagging sound caught their attention but Severus and Avery continued to kiss as the Marauders stood making revolted faces at them, apart from the rather more mature Remus of course.

"That's fucking disgusting you'd think they'd want to keep that sort of stuff private" James commented gazing off in their direction his nose wrinkled with disgust.

"Yeah what kind of nutter would want to kiss, Snivellus?" Sirius pretended to gag.

"Apparently, Avery" Remus replied watching the two boys embracing.

"That's actually quite hot" a soft female voice said from behind them.

Remus glanced over his shoulder to where a group of three girls stood just behind them watching Severus and Avery kissing. Remus turned back to stare at a baffled looking James as Lily was standing with them.

"Didn't you used to be friends with Snape?" the blonde girl with her hair pulled up into a soft ponytail asked Lily.

"Yes we did used to be friends, that is a used to though but I am glad he's found someone I-didn't think he would..." Lily admitted staring at her ex best friend. She hadn't spoken to Severus in so long they weren't friends any more in fact she really didn't care much for him in truth he frightened her more than she would ever admit, the people he hung around with including Avery. Lily knew Severus didn't have any feelings for her any more but she still wished him the best.

"Don't you think that two boys making out is hot? I know it's Snape but Avery is gorgeous" the blonde girl-Mary MacDonald- said again.

The other two girls nodded in agreement.

"I have to admit there is something very nice about it" Lily sighed, her eyes lingering on Avery just a moment too long.

"You see? Nobody else is going to make fun of them" Remus said quietly turning to James who looked utterly devastated.

"That's just not fair" James whined.

"Not gonna lie or anything but you look gutted mate" Sirius laughed slinging an arm around James' shoulder.

"Serves him right" Remus grinned and Peter burst out laughing.

"Mm your lips are so soft" Avery breathed against Severus' kiss.

"So are yours I could do this all day" Severus whispered back.

Avery smiled against Severus' lips slipping his hands around his lower back under his cloak pulling him closer being careful of his tiny bump.

They drew apart slowly gently rubbing their noses against each other's just as Professor Slughorn came down the corridor flicking his wand at the door which unlocked wordlessly, he glanced at the two boys and smiled to himself he was glad Severus got what he wanted and things seemed to be going so well he would definitely need to ask Severus and Avery back at the end of the lesson for a chat just to see how they were coping with everything but from the looks of things they were fine.

The two boys pulled back and followed the rest of the students into the classroom, they took their seats together as usual and pulled their things from their bags.

"Boys can I see you both after lesson please, don't worry you're not in trouble I just want to see how you're getting on" Slughorn smiled as he passed their table.

"Yes Professor"

"You're an amazing kisser" Severus blushed his eyes dropping to the table.

Avery smirked and pecked him on the cheek again. "You're not so bad yourself"

The lesson passed quite nicely apart from the rather rude note that was sent fluttering across the classroom to them from the Marauders as usual filled with immature insults and crude pathetic drawings. The rest of the class were dismissed but Severus and Avery asked to hang back for a moment.

Slughorn beckoned them to his desk and waited until the door was shut behind the final student before he turned to them.

"Have a seat then, boys" he gestured and they both sat down their hands locked together.

"Now, how are you two feeling especially you Severus is everything going okay?" Slughorn asked watching them closely.

"Yes we're fine everything is going well I've stopped being sick" Severus smiled.

"We had our first proper scan together yesterday morning" Avery said happily pulling out one of the scan photos and handing it over to Professor Slughorn who took it and smiled warmly.

"It's always so nice to see a tiny little baby, sometimes I wish I had have had children of my own but sadly that time has passed" the potions master smiled watching the baby move and flicker about.

"Do you know what you're having yet?" he asked handing Avery back the scan photo.

"Not yet" he said tucking it away quickly. "A few weeks and we'll know"

"What are you hoping for?"

"We really don't mind but the sooner we know the better because we can start buying colour coordinated things for him or her" Severus replied.

"I expect that will be lovely, it is nice to have some babies around they always bring so much joy although I can't exactly say it must be that wonderful being pregnant and having a baby as a teenager" Slughorn replied.

"We'll manage though everything will be okay I know it" Avery smiled giving Severus' hand a gentle squeeze.

"I think so too" Severus nodded.

"That's good are you having any other problems with students or anything else you feel I should know about?" Slughorn asked looking from one to the other and back again.

Severus fidgeted awkwardly for a moment he could feel Avery's gaze on him and took and deep breath. "Actually we have been having some problems with a few people, nothing more than the ordinary though nobody knows about the baby yet we'll let them find out when the time comes if they manage to figure it out then more for them" Severus replied.

"Right and this of any cause for concern?"

Severus shook his head. "I don't think so but you should probably just be made aware of it in case any other issues occur"

"Okay and I'm guessing this has something to do with the group of boys who sit across the room from you?" Slughorn asked pointing towards the now empty seats that without looking Severus knew belonged to James, Sirius, Peter and Remus.

"Yes"

"I shall make a note of it and if anything happens let me know and we'll have words, it's not acceptable behaviour to bully or harass another student especially seeing as that student is expecting" Professor Slughorn said seriously. Severus rested a hand on his stomach and looked to Avery.

"If any problems do arise come and see me don't wait around I will deal with it, if you need anything you know where to find me is there anything else I can do for you?"

Both boys shook their head.

"Very well I'll see you tomorrow and take care of yourselves" Slughorn said looking from one to the other.

They left the classroom in rather high spirits as they made their way towards the stairs hand in hand.

"Divination next, at least we won't have to do much we'll be lucky if that crazy woman even realises that the class has fallen asleep" Avery mused as they headed up the stairs.

"That's true, Divination in some ways is one of my favourites purely because I can contradict most of the things said in there and the fact you can sit back and relax for a while even catch up on some homework for another lesson" Severus chuckled.

Another crowd of second year Hufflepuff boys walked past them staring at Severus, well two of them were the others were looking confusedly at their friends.

"Those kids must never have seen a gay relationship before" Avery smirked as they continued on up the stairs.

"They're the second lot to have been staring at me today it feels weird" Severus shuddered slightly.

"Just ignore them they're only curious" Avery smiled.

Two days passed and the weekend had arrived quicker than anyone could have expected, not that they were complaining of course.

"Ahh" Severus sighed kicking off his shoes and shrugging off his school robes back in the dormitory.

"I love that Friday feeling" Avery grinned flopping down on the bed beside his boyfriend.

"Me too especially now seeing as we can finally have some rest and maybe even a little peace and quiet from everyone else"

"Sounds good to me" Avery smiled gazing at Severus. He reached out and patted his hips, with a smile on his face, Severus got up and shifted to sit on them a leg either side settling himself comfortably there smiling down at his boyfriend.

"You're so beautiful" Avery breathed reaching up to gently caress the side of Severus' face.

"M'not" Severus blushed averting his eyes.

"Yes you are, you might not think you're hot but I certainly do, hmm in fact maybe those boys were staring at you because they think you're gorgeous as well, you're bloody stunning" Avery said honestly.

Severus couldn't help but blush even further butterflies fluttering around in the pit of his stomach.

"I'm sure that wasn't the reason..."

"Why not? It's enough reason for me to stare at you" Avery grinned.

"I'm not exactly the best looking person around" Severus said.

"To me you are, and now you've got this glow about you you're lucky I haven't pulled you out of lessons for a quick one" Avery smirked watching Severus' blush return once again.

"You're gorgeous to me" Severus smiled warmly. "Everything about you is so warm, at risk of sounding like a love struck teenage girl I feel completely safe and secure with you that's part of the reason why I fell for you" he admitted shyly fingering the buttons on the front of Avery's shirt.

"You don't sound like a girl" Avery smiled. "You sound lovely"

They completely ignored the door when it opened Evan and Mulciber came in throwing their stuff aside trying not to stare at the two boys sitting on the bed like that cooing over one another.

"Anything in particular you want to do tonight?" Avery asked.

"Maybe have a soak in the bath and if you're feeling extra specially nice you could give me a massage?" Severus asked with a hopeful grin.

"Sounds pretty nice to me" Avery replied happily. "Fancy a foot rub as well?"

"If you don't mind" Severus chuckled. "My ankles are a little bit swollen, my book says it's normal and can happen more often if I haven't had my feet up enough"

Mulciber and Evan exchanged a confused strange look.

"Probably best if you put them up this weekend then and just have a rest at least you aren't throwing up anymore" Avery said enthusiastically.

"And I don't need any potion to make sure of that" Severus added.

"That too"

"Severus, are you _still _not well?" Evan asked curiously feeling confused about their conversation.

Severus exchanged a quick glance with Avery before turning his head to face Evan just across the room lounging on his own bed. "I'm not ill"

"Right... but what are you talking about?"

Severus shrugged. "Nothing just that I'm feeling better than I was"

"Well, that's a plus" Evan replied.

A little while later they all headed down for dinner Severus sat stuffing his face hungrily eating whatever was in front of him.

"Feeling hungry?" Regulus quirked an immaculate, fine dark eyebrow at his friend even he had to admit, Severus' behaviour was growing stranger by the day.

"Ravenous" Severus replied shovelling food into his mouth. Avery sat smiling at him eating his own dinner.

"Any plans for this weekend then boys?" Mulciber asked trying to completely ignore Severus.

"Not really there isn't anything to do until next weekend when the Hogsmeade trip is and next Sunday when people go home" Regulus replied still watching Severus mix odd foods up.

"We could find somewhere and have a few little duelling matches, the teachers won't mind if they don't know anything about it" Evan suggested with a smirk and the other's faces all lit up besides Severus and Avery.

"Yeah let's do it, there's a classroom on the fourth floor right at the end of the corridor, rarely ever used and nobody will think twice about it we should be able to get in there" Regulus said quickly and the others all agreed to it.

"Are either of you coming or are you planning on spending the day making kissy faces at one another?" Mulciber asked coolly.

They looked to one another before shaking their heads.

"We don't 'make kissy faces' at each other either and we aren't joining in with your duelling match it isn't- safe..." Avery said awkwardly staring hard at Mulciber, his warm eyes suddenly sharp and piercing as though challenging him to start something.

"Since when did you care about safety? What has come over you?" Mulciber's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"What interest is it of yours anyway, you don't give a damn about either of us so why should we go to your stupid little duelling matches, you'll probably get caught anyway by McGonagall that woman has eyes like a hawk" Avery retorted.

"When did I say I didn't care, you're the one acting like a dick head!" Mulciber snapped nastily.

"Me a dick head?" Avery almost shouted drawing rather a lot of unwanted attention to himself.

"Yeah that's right, you used to be cool now you're just some fucking useless fairy boy" Mulciber wrinkled his nose with disgust.

Avery was about to get out of his seat but Severus rested a hand on his arm and gave him a soft pleading look. Avery's face immediately softened his eyes became warm again as he took Severus by the hand. The others were still staring at him their mouths hanging open unable to look away, Avery had actually responded to Severus would even having to be asked.

"Let's go back to the dormitory" Severus spoke quietly ignoring the final stares as the students that had turned to look at them resumed their meal.

"Okay" Avery nodded, without another word they got up and left not meeting anyone's eye.

They headed back to the dormitory, Severus interlocking their arms so he could move closer to Avery he really couldn't understand or believe Mulciber's behaviour at the moment, it was completely disgusting and uncalled for nobody had done anything wrong yet he was making a show out of everything. Severus knew it was partly to do with them being gay, well, not so much that they were gay but more to do with the fact they were together and the whole concept of them being gay, in some ways he could understand initial upset but not now it shouldn't still be happening.

"Are you okay you've gone quiet?" Avery asked as they headed back into their dormitory.

Severus smiled moving forward to cuddle Avery. "I'm fine just thinking about how ridiculously pathetic Mulciber is being" he sighed and quickly explained his theory as to why their friend was so upset.

"I completely agree"

Severus tilted his face up to look his lover directly in the eye those familiar soothing eyes were enough to make him melt.

"Severus, I know you're sensitive and hormonal at the moment and I know you're also a logical thinker Mulciber is being an idiot, he will come round he has his moods about things like a child throwing their toys out of the pram if he's not getting exactly his own way" he smiled and Severus couldn't help but emit a soft laugh.

"Just try not to think about it or let him wind you up I don't want to see you fighting and I don't want you to ever leave me" Severus breathed burying his face back in his boyfriend's soft yet strong chest inhaling that beautiful aroma deeply.

"I swear I won't ever leave you no matter what happens, okay? So don't let anything worry you, you can talk to me I trust you" Avery whispered pressing his lips to Severus' silky black hair.

"I trust you too" Severus breathed.

About fifteen minutes later and the other two boys appeared back in the dormitory, Evan looked rather angry and stalked in ahead of Mulciber. They must have all been fighting.

"Shall I run you a nice bath now then?" Avery asked stretching himself out like a cat, such an elegant and graceful manner for a boy Severus couldn't help but admire him.

"Definitely on one condition" Severus smirked.

"What's that?"

"You join me" Severus grinned watching the spark of excitement cross Avery's handsome pale face.

"Agreed!" he beamed flashing his perfect pearly white teeth.

"You even bathe together, that's kind of cute" Evan commented with a smile. Mulciber shot him a filthy look but Severus and Avery turned to stare in disbelief, although he hadn't actually cause any outward trouble they never expected him to be so good about their relationship, clearly he could handle the situation much better than Mulciber.

"Thanks" Avery smiled.

"Come on let's go get in" Severus grinned shooting a pleasant look to Evan before pulling Avery into the bathroom locking the door shut behind them.

Avery smirked making his way over to the side of the bath not taking his eyes off of Severus for a second as he twisted the taps on and slowly made his way back to Severus.

Severus smiled shyly, reaching up he began to slowly open the buttons on the front of Avery's white school shirt revealing the soft, perfect ivory skin beneath. He bit his bottom lip as he slowly pushed the shirt back over Avery's shoulders allowing it to fall silently to the floor around their feet, his slender fingers moving to trace the fine contours of his lover's chest and stomach.

"Tickles a little" Avery chuckled as he carefully pulled Severus' school jumper over his head dropping it to the ground he immediately reached to open his shirt revealing his white, delicate skin his little bump protruding out in front of him.

"Sexy" Avery breathed pulling Severus in for a kiss.

"Not as sexy as you" Severus whispered against his boyfriends tender lips, every time Avery kissed him he felt as though he might melt, like Avery would need to hold him up to stop him from sinking to the floor in a happy daze.

Avery pulled back and smiled, Severus watched him head over and switch off the taps, the warm water and bubbles coming to a stop after filling the bathing pool.

"Let's get naked" Avery grinned playfully, he made his way over to Severus hooking his fingers into the waist band of his pyjama bottoms he pushed them down effortlessly, his eyes falling on Severus' underwear tented a little as his semi hard penis gave a small strain against the fabric.

"Feeling excited?" Avery chuckled his fingers tracing it through the thin material. Severus' breath caught sharply in his throat.

"You shouldn't get naked, or look at me, or talk unless you want me to get hard" Severus breathed his cheeks burning.

"All I have to do is look at you like this and it makes you horny?" Avery smiled his fingers gently stroking Severus' member.

"Pretty much" Severus admitted shyly. "Especially when you're topless or talking... or topless and talking"

Avery let out a small laugh and leaned forward brushing his lips over Severus' once again.

"What about if I put extra emphasis on me accent?" Avery smirked watching Severus convulse with delight, he reached down slowly opening the front of his own trousers pushing them down to the ground and stepping out his own erection straining against the fabric of his underwear.

"You'll make me cum in my pants" Severus breathed.

"Mm so how about we get in the bath then?" Avery purred his hands moving to push Severus' underwear down and off.

"Sounds good to me" Severus grinned reaching out nervously and pulling his boyfriends baggy dark boxer shorts down, he bit his bottom lip staring at the long, thick arousal before him.

They two boys headed over to the bath, Avery slipped in up to his chest in water first before reaching out and helping Severus in, in a sort of very gentlemanly fashion.

"I love you" Avery said warmly wrapping his arms around Severus.

"I love you too" Severus breathed.

A little while later after a nice wash and quick massage, they were sitting together, Severus between Avery's legs relaxing in the water on the little ledge around the inside of the bathing pool.

"You know I think we should tell our families about the baby..." Avery began his fingers stroking through Severus' long dark hair.

Severus instantly tensed.

"What's wrong?" Avery frowned.

"It's just my parents aren't together and they aren't very..." Severus left the sentence hanging.

"Don't worry you'll be fine, we have to tell them sooner or later and I think sooner would be best then at least we know where we stand"

Severus was quiet for a few moments before giving a tiny quick nod. "I do agree with you there"

"Then let's send off out owls in the morning, the sooner the better then we'll know where we stand" Avery smiled turning Severus around to face him, he was surprised to see that Severus was actually smiling.

"Okay" Severus whispered back leaning in and kissing Avery softly on the lips.

"Mm so sexy" Avery breathed his hands moving to gently cup Severus' bottom under the water giving it a playful squeeze. "When we go to bed may I do naughty stuff to you?" Avery asked with a smirk watching Severus' cheeks glow slightly as he nodded.

"How about we go back now then?" Severus practically purred tracing Avery's chest with his fingers.

"Why Sev, I would love to" Avery grinned playfully giving his bottom another squeeze before they pulled apart and climbed out of the bath. Avery passed Severus a warm fluffy towel before drying himself off a bit, he could feel Severus' eyes on his back and he turned around and smiled.

"Staring at my arse?"

Severus blushed again and smiled. "If you don't want me staring at it you shouldn't let it be so nice"

"Come on let's get into bed" Avery grinned pulling on his nightshirt turning to fully face Severus also in his night shirt.

Severus reached out and took Avery's hand as they slipped back through the door into the dormitory, both Evan and Mulciber looked up at them as Avery pulled Severus up against him instantly kissing him on the lips. Avery's fingers crept to Severus' hips lowering enough to bunch up the hem enough to slip his hands under without exposing Severus' privates, his hands crept around resting on his bare bum again.

"Come on beautiful let's get into bed" Avery said gently leading Severus over to the bed, they moved around Severus pointing his wand at his goblet casting Aguamenti and drinking deeply from it before turning to lie on his side facing Avery.

"Hi" he said playfully watching Avery's face spread into a grin.

"Hey there" Avery grinned back his hand resting gently on Severus' side.

"What's with all the weird behaviour?" Mulciber asked watching them closely over the top of his Astronomy text book.

"We're not being strange, but you might want to look away" Avery replied with a smirk. He had a plan.

"Why...?" Mulciber asked.

"Because I'm going to do stuff to him right now" Avery said casually watching the look of horror wash over Mulciber's face.

Without another word, Avery watched as Evan hurried over and jumped on Mulciber's bed next to him with a stack of magazines before yanking the curtain pull plunging them into a dim soft glow, he vaguely heard the other two doing the same thing perhaps hoping conversation and reading entertainment was enough to drown out the impending thoughts of what their so called friends were about to do.

"Looks like their fight didn't last long" Severus chuckled turning to Avery.

"Looks like it didn't but they're guys they'll make friends easy enough" Avery chuckled.

"Mm enough about them, more about pleasure" Severus growled his hands making their way up to roam over Avery's chest his tongue tracing his lover's bottom lip hungrily.

Avery let out a soft breathy moan his hands moving to slide up Severus' side and back down to his thigh smoothing up the pale supple skin there pushing the hem of his nightshirt up revealing him as he caressed his delicate skin.

"You remember what I said a few days ago?" Avery spoke sinking his teeth into Severus' bottom lip pulling on it lightly before pushing his tongue into his boyfriend's mouth.

"When I gave you a blow job?" Severus whispered his hands roaming all over Avery's torso hungrily.

"Yes" Avery growled his hand making its way up into Severus' hair pulling him forward to deepen the already ferocious kiss.

"I'd really love to do some dirty things to you tonight, I want you to feel good and I really want to bring you lots of pleasure I want to see your beautiful face as I bring you to orgasm" Avery whispered against Severus' skin pressing kisses against the thumping pulse point of his neck.

"Then do it, please..." Severus moaned his hands moving quickly to slide under Avery's night shirt feeling his bare skin around the front of his hips.

"Your wish is my command" Avery purred rolling so he was on top of Severus being extra careful to hover above his bump and not touch it.

Before Severus realised what had happened, his nightshirt was off and thrown to the bottom of the bed and Avery's lips were all over his skin, he gasped and moaned as he felt that moist pink tongue swirling around an unprotected over sensitive nipple.

"Oohhhh yeah" Severus groaned with pleasure as Avery shifted to lick and nip at the other nipple his fingers moving up to tweak and pluck at the already moist one.

"You love it when I play with your nipples, don't you?" Avery asked his warm breath tingling on Severus' skin.

"They're so sensitive now" Severus whispered back concentrating on the way Avery slid down his body pressing sweet kisses in a line down his tummy towards this throbbing erection.

"I've never done this before so if I do it wrong tell me, okay?" Avery whispered his eyes flicking up to catch Severus' gaze as his fingers curled around the base of the boy's erection holding it pointing towards his mouth.

"I'd never done it before I sucked you, I'm sure you'll be fine" Severus flushed.

Avery smiled warmly up at Severus. "I love you"

"I love you too"

Avery leaned down slowly he pressed a kiss to the tip of Severus' penis parting his lips he took it into his mouth sucking on it carefully. Severus gasped moving to make himself comfortable propped up half sitting, half lying to watching his boyfriend as he pleasured him.

Avery was still watching the expressions of pleasure wash over Severus' face as he began to slowly pump his hand sucking in time with the movements he tried to fight back a smile of delight as Severus groaned softly. Using his lips he gently nudged back Severus' foreskin his tongue swirling around the damp head of his penis the drops of clear glistening fluid in his mouth actually tasted sort of sweet and pleasant. And he moaned.

Severus gasped loudly as Avery's tongue teased at his leaking slit.

"I-I have an idea" he said hoarsely.

Avery stopped and looked up confused. "What do you mean?"

"Lie on your side with your head towards the foot board" Severus said shifting down a little to lie on his side.

Avery quickly followed suit lying top and tail with Severus. "What-?"

When Severus' hips became level with his face he realised what Severus wanted to do and he moaned loudly then gasped as Severus' lips wrapped around his own throbbing, aching erection. Quickly he took Severus' member in his hand and began to suck on him in time with Severus' movements using his tongue to tease and lap at the sensitive glans.

"Soo good" Severus moaned twirling his tongue around Avery's leaking slit enjoying the taste of his pre cum. "Mm I could just suck you all day" he breathed trailing his tongue from bottom to top.

"Severus..."

Severus moaned loudly as Avery began to tease the tip of his erection with his moist tongue. "Mm and you have really nice balls" he whispered against Avery's member drawing back enough to admire them and roll them through the palm of his hand. "I also love the idea of your face between my legs" he groaned before engulfing the head of Avery's large member in his mouth once again.

Avery gasped and moaned softly quickening his pace on Severus' member enjoying every little whimpering sound the smaller boy emitted. Severus could get pretty noisy. He groaned again taking Severus' erection deeper into his mouth his hand working on the base massaging it between his fingers as he began to suck hard and rough.

Severus moaned loudly twirling his tongue flicking and teasing at Avery's leaking slit again feeling him convulse at the lightest touch.

All too soon Severus could feel that familiar pressure building inside of him the rush quickening as it built, he was close.

"If-if you keep doing that I'm gonna- I'm close..." Severus groaned stopping what he was doing to look down at Avery.

"Mm in my mouth..." Avery moaned picking up his pace again listening to the horny little whimpers escaping Severus' lips.

Avery picked up his pace sucking much harder than before preparing himself for that gush of fluid he could feel Severus tensing up his toes curling another suck and-

"Avery!" Severus gasped loudly arching his back towards Avery's mouth as the other boy continued to suck him as he came hard into his mouth.

Avery was surprised at how it didn't taste as bad as he had expected, he swallowed it quickly as it came out a small amount trickling out of the corner of his mouth as he continued to suck Severus until long after he was spent and twitching.

"Avery... Will..." Severus panted closing his dark eyes in a long slow blink. "So good..."

Avery couldn't help but blush and grin. "Glad you enjoyed it" he breathed.

"Could you turn around and lie down against the pillows please?" Severus asked.

Avery gave a quick nod, he shifted around being careful of Severus and flopped back against the pillows, before he even had the chance to make himself fully comfortable Severus was on him his lips around his aching member and he gasped so loudly he had to bite his knuckles to stop himself from being too loud.

"You like that? Yeah I know you do..." Severus half moaned against Avery's member as he picked up his pace sucking harder and faster his other hand moving to cup his balls gently rolling them between his fingers. "You love it when I'm so incredibly filthy and suck you off till you cum down my throat"

Avery couldn't help but moan with pleasure, not just from the blow job but from the way Severus was so good at talking dirty, his innocent Severus had another side.

"I love how big your cock is" Severus moaned again. "It's huge like an animals and I love it"

Avery let out another loud groan he could feel his orgasm approaching rapidly as Severus continued to suck hard and hungrily on his member letting out soft moans of his own.

Severus smirked picking up his pace one final time. "I wonder what it would feel like up my arse-"

"SEVERUS!" Avery cried his last words sending the boy over the edge and he exploded in Severus' mouth in thick white ribbons that Severus swallowed hungrily lapping at it allowing a few drops to fall on his reddened lips, he continued to suck, licking Avery clean even as he felt his lover's member starting to go soft.

Severus finally drew back sitting himself up on his knees gazing at Avery his eyes wide and innocent.

"Come here" Avery whispered beckoning him forward.

Severus smiled warmly moving up the bed as Avery rolled onto his side, he curled up beside him still smiling.

"That was amazing I never knew you could talk so dirty why didn't you tell me you could do that I thought you were a virgin?"

Severus blushed furiously. "I am and you're the first and only person I've ever spoken to like that I thought maybe you'd like it I didn't know if I was any good or not"

"Good? You're bloody brilliant" Avery grinned.

"Thank you" Severus blushed even further as Avery grabbed the covers and threw them over them snuggling up to Severus.

"Can I kiss you?" Severus asked worried Avery might not want to because of what he had in his mouth.

"Course" Avery grinned leaning forward and kissing Severus softly on the lips smiling as he felt Severus return it, their tongues moving together rhythmically.

When they drew apart both of them were grinning.

"That was very nice, Severus"

"I could say the same thing about you, that was some blow job"

"Glad you enjoyed it, now come on let's go to sleep for a bit I don't know about you but I'm beat" Avery chuckled pulling Severus into his arms.

"Try being pregnant" Severus whispered and they both started laughing.

"I love you" Severus smiled.

"I love you too, so much" Avery breathed kissing Severus one last time before they both drifted off into a comfortable sleep.

The next morning when they woke it was slightly later than usual Severus was the first to wake surprisingly enough. He yawned stretching himself out like a cat before curling up into Avery's warm, naked chest. He began to softly kiss the exposed supple skin there, he still couldn't believe Avery was his he felt so lucky and privileged to have him as his boyfriend, he knew there were lots of people both girls and boys that fancied Avery and for Avery to choose Severus over all the others even before he found out about the baby was very lucky and made him feel incredibly special, when he could have pretty much anyone he wanted he chose Severus, because above all others he saw something special in him.

He sighed happily slipping his thumb back into his mouth his other hand still under the covers holding himself comfortingly. Sleep overcame him again and he drifted off happily still snuggled up to Avery's warm body.

When Avery the first thing he noticed was that Severus was curled right up against his chest, the second thing he noticed was how adorable the smaller boy looked tucked up comfortably completely naked with his dark eyes closed, his thumb in his mouth as usual and the other buried under the covers without even looking Avery knew he was holding his soft penis.

"Good morning beautiful" Avery smiled kissing the top of Severus' head. The smaller boy let out a small noise and snuggled up closer to Avery without even opening his eyes. Avery chuckled and kissed him again. "Don't you want to get up and have some breakfast?"

"You said I could have a lie in..." Severus said sleepily.

"Can if you want to, in fact I'll get up and bring you breakfast in bed how does that sound?"

"You don't have to" Severus yawned.

"I want to, I won't be long maybe ten minutes at the most I'll put some clothes on and I'll be straight back, okay?" Avery smiled.

Severus gave a small nod and Avery kissed him again before slipping out of the sheets grabbing himself some underwear he pulled it on before moving from between the curtains and stretching upwards rubbing his tired eyes.

He picked out some fresh clothes just a baggy dark grey t-shirt and some jeans, pulling on his socks and shoes he headed across the room to the bathroom banging loudly on the door.

"Just a second" Evan called and Avery rolled his eyes.

Avery turned around to see Mulciber organising his books and shoving them back under his bed with a yawn. He looked up and stared at Avery suspiciously.

"What?"

"Nothing"

Mulciber looked like he was going to say something else but the door clicked open and Evan slipped out grinning at Avery.

"Did someone get laid last night?" he smirked.

"No, why?"

"You said you were going to do stuff to Severus and you were making a fair bit of noise at times" Evan half shrugged. Mulciber made a gagging noise behind them but Avery completely ignored him.

"Yes but we weren't having sex just doing _stuff_" Avery replied heading into the bathroom and shutting the door before Evan could ask any more questions. He wasn't too comfortable with sharing their private life with the others especially Mulciber especially without Severus' permission he didn't want to upset him.

A few minutes later he was washed and ready, hurrying out of the bathroom he glanced at the hanging bed curtains where Severus was still sleeping behind before making his way out of the dormitory, he wanted to be back as soon as possible he didn't like leaving Severus on his own for too long he wanted to be with him. Passing down into the common room he glanced over to the fireplace where Mulciber was sitting alone staring at the flames, not wanting to disturb him he hurried out of the common room and through the dungeon corridor.

"Severus?"

"Mph?" Severus groaned still buried under his nest of blankets as Evan's voice called to him.

"Severus are you okay?"

"I'm fine I'm just tired" Severus replied.

"Can I talk to you for a second?" Evan asked quickly.

"What about?"

"I just wanted to know if you were alright especially with all this Mulciber shit going on I know you obviously talk to Avery but I wasn't sure if we were okay?" Evan said slowly.

Severus was quiet for a few moments. "I have spoken to Avery about this, I'm not angry with you we're still friends it's just the hostility of things that gets me down sometimes you must know what I mean by that" Severus said peeking out from under the bedding.

"Well yeah and I know Mulciber can be a complete dick about things and he is overreacting but I was just..." Evan trailed off nervously.

"Just what?" Severus asked flatly.

"Just wondering if there was something else going on here, with you and Avery I mean why you've been so... secretive and strange lately" Evan tried watching Severus tense under the covers.

Severus was quiet for a few moments before he said "Yes... there is"

Evan swallowed hard feeling more curious than he ever had before if not slightly concerned. "What is it?"

"It's nothing you need worry about, I'm okay and Avery is okay and we're absolutely fine together we love each other everything is good" Severus said honestly looking Evan straight in the eye.

"Then what's the problem?" Evan asked quickly trying to push the situation further.

Severus went silent again. "You'll find out when the time is right" he said slowly as the door opened and Avery reappeared with two plates of food.

He stopped and stared suspiciously at Evan who had completely drawn Severus' bed curtains back.

"Sev I got you some food" Avery smiled holding out one of the plates, the one with more food on it a large mixture of random breakfast foods and sauces that Evan stared at suspiciously. Severus yawned sitting up rubbing his tired eyes before he grinned.

"Thank you"

"No problem, is everything okay?" Avery asked looking between the two boys as he sat down beside Severus who had pulled the covers up quite high trying to keep his chest covered so Evan didn't notice the size or shape of his changed nipples or the fact he had a bump hidden beneath the sheets.

"Yeah Evan was just making sure we were still cool after everything that's happened with Mulciber" Severus smiled tucking into his breakfast.

"Oh yeah everything's alright you're not the one in the wrong here he is" Avery smiled.

"Great" Evan smiled back.

"He was also wondering if anything else is going on with us" Severus said looking at Avery.

Avery understood immediately and turned his attention to stare at Evan uncomfortably.

"I told him he'd find out when the time was right" Severus smiled trying to relieve some of the tension.

"Yeah everything's alright though" Avery added quickly.

Evan looked between the two of them before he nodded. "Okay, I'd better go and find Mulciber I think he's still sulking and leave you to your breakfast, I'll see you later on" he smiled turning and walking across the dormitory. Just as he was about to reach the door handle Severus called.

"Wait-"

Evan turned to stare.

"Soon...okay? we'll tell you-everyone- soon" Severus said slowly, Avery sat nodding slowly beside him they both looked incredibly serious and Evan swallowed before nodding quickly.

"Okay" it was barely audible as he closed the door behind him...


	7. Chapter 7

The rest of the weekend passed and Severus and Avery were getting on perfectly fine as usual. It was the week before Christmas and the school was buzzing with excitement, the end of term was fast approaching and even on Monday morning people were unusually bright. It was the start of the week and the start of Severus; thirteenth week of pregnancy, he had gained a little more weight and he was feeling much better in himself all thanks to the ending of his first trimester.

"You must have been hungry" Avery chuckled as they made their way along the dungeon corridor after having just come from breakfast. As they passed around the corner, a fifth year Slytherin boy was standing in a group of his friends his eyes fixated on Severus, a strange look in his eye.

"Yeah well baby needs food" Severus said quietly smiling to his boyfriend resting a discreet hand on his tummy.

"People keep staring at you..." Avery frowned slightly as he headed along the corridor his eyes wandering for any suspected onlookers and sure enough, another few people were staring.

"I know and it freaks me out a little, I feel like I've done something wrong"

"You haven't though" Avery pointed stopping outside their potions classroom. "Maybe" he said pulling Severus into his arms. "It's because you're beautiful"

Severus blushed a little and smiled warmly up at his boyfriend. "It's not it's probably quite the opposite actually" he said quietly.

"Nah if they start bothering you tell me and I'll sort them out" Avery said.

"Thanks" Severus chuckled. Avery leaned down slowly and began to kiss him softly on the lips, he could feel pairs of eyes burning on him but that didn't stop him he continued to kiss Severus without a single ounce of hesitance.

"Avery looks like he'd be a good kisser..." Mary whispered to one of her dark haired friends. The Marauders stopped their conversation barely three feet away from the girls glaring to one another with disgust as they listened in on their conversation.

"Mary! He's a Slytherin" the dark haired girl hissed angrily her eyes shooting to Avery quickly.

"Yes he might be and he might be evil and stuff but he's still hot you can't deny that"

"True..." the girl said again. "And as you said before it's really hot watching two boys kissing especially one so fit"

"Now I see why guys like lesbians" Lily commented her green eyes fixed on Avery.

"I can't fucking believe they like watching _that_" James gasped wrinkling his nose with disgust at Severus.

"She has a point, we like lesbians girls like gay blokes" Sirius replied with a shrug.

"For once in my life I'm actually jealous of Snape and he doesn't even like the girls back!" James gruffed folding his arms angrily over his chest in a childish temper.

"Hey Remus you like guys-"

"Don't even think about it, Sirius" Remus warned.

"Do you think they've had sex yet?" Lily asked her friend curiously.

"I don't know maybe"

"How do two blokes have sex, I mean, they both have dicks?" Mary asked curiously.

James and Sirius struggled to hold back the laughter as once again they stood listening in on other people's conversations.

"They have anal" the dark haired girl replied rather bluntly.

"Yeah that's correct one of them pushes his penis up the other ones bum" Lily added.

James and Sirius burst out into fits of laughter, but still it didn't stop the two Slytherin boys from continuing their exploration of each other's mouths, much to Mulciber's disgust.

Slughorn came back down the corridor and opened the classroom allowing them in the two boys slowly drew apart their kisses grinning to one another before they headed into the classroom hand in hand. They took their normal seats and began to unpack their things.

Avery reached out under the table and gave Severus' thigh a gentle squeeze smiling warmly at him through such lovely eyes.

"I love you" he said softly.

"Aww! I love you too" Severus smiled.

As the lesson went by something continually played on Severus' mind.

"Umm, Avery?"

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking..." Severus said slowly. "That maybe we should... tell the others about the baby soon..." he said quietly so nobody over heard.

Avery rested his quill down on the table and turned to look Severus straight in the face. "I think that's a good idea, we've been keeping this a secret so long now and they are starting to notice things"

"Yeah and I feel bad for keeping it a secret from them for so long as it is, you saw Evan's face he was genuinely concerned" Severus replied.

"I know, so shall we tell them all tonight? Get them up in the dormitory or the common room?" Avery suggested and Severus nodded.

Severus let out a short, shaky breath. "I'm nervous now" he chuckled.

"Don't be everything will be fine you've got me with you I won't let anything bad happen to you" Avery smiled.

"Thank you"

After the lesson they made their way up to History of Magic, sitting down in their seats they were both ready to fall asleep. Unfortunately it was going to be one of those lessons and ten minutes in, a roughly folded bird fluttered down onto their table. Severus picked it up rolling his eyes he carelessly unfolded it and began to read trying his best to ignore the charmed, graphic image of what appeared to be Severus and Avery having sex.

'_Watch out Snivellus, I see the girls are into guy on guy action, better be careful one of them doesn't come alo__ng and snatch Avery from you it, from what I've overheard it __appears they find him rather attractive__ even if he is a fucking Slytherin__' _

"What's that?" Avery asked leaning over to look at the note before Severus could hide it. He scanned it quickly and wrinkled his nose with disgust. "Just ignore it Severus you're by far the best person I could ever be with and I don't want anybody else but you" he smiled warmly making Severus' heart flutter.

The lesson continued in that fashion, growing ever more boring by the second and by the time it ended, both Severus and Avery were half asleep. They got up, packed up their things and headed down to the great hall for lunch grateful to be out of the dreary old classroom.

"I'm starving I don't know what's wrong with me this week, I've been feeling better in myself but I just can't stop eating" Severus groaned.

"I know why" Avery chuckled. "You'll be alright it's a good thing, remember?"

"Yeah means baby is growing nicely" Severus sighed happily. They headed in and dropped into their seats, Severus was piling his plate with everything in sight and the others glanced at him suspiciously. This was Avery's cue.

"Hey guys listen up for a minute" he said nervously. Severus looked up at him, he knew what Avery was about to do.

"What?" Mulciber asked flatly.

"Can you meet Severus and I in the common room tonight, I wanna make sure you're all there that's why I'm saying this now we have something really important to tell you all" Avery said a tint of nervousness in his voice.

"What's this all about?" Regulus asked curiously.

"If the common room has people in it, then we'll go up to the dormitory" Severus said quickly and Avery nodded.

"Are you finally going to tell us what you've been keeping so secret?" Evan asked hopefully.

"Yes" Severus said slowly.

Mulciber stared at them with genuine intrigue for a few moments, his face a mixture of emotions and he nodded slowly.

"So just be there, all of you, at ten, that should give people enough time to go to their dormitories so we'll have the place to ourselves" Avery said awkwardly.

"Alright" Mulciber nodded surprisingly agreeable.

After lunch came Charms and that was no less entertaining than the rest of the subjects, Professor Flitwick had given them mock exam papers to do which were fairly easy but annoying none the less.

"It's the last week of term we should be having fun" Avery groaned scribbling away at his answer paper.

"Agreed, but oh well at least this prepares us for our exams" Severus sighed.

"Always so practical" Avery chuckled pecking Severus on the cheek.

"I like to be prepared I used to have nightmares back in first year that I was being held back a year for failing everything and ever since then it's kind of traumatise me" Severus laughed.

"Aww you never told me you feared failing" Avery replied.

Severus just shrugged. "I thought it was kinda obvious?" he grinned.

"You're so bloody cute" Avery flushed.

"I'm not as cute as you though" Severus smiled.

"You're cuter, you have a sweet face" Avery grinned gazing at Severus with those eyes that just made him melt.

"I'm really nervous about tonight" Severus shuddered a little, he was very worried about how his friends would react what they would say or do to him when they found out about the baby.

"Don't be, everything will be fine you'll see I'll be there with you holding your hand for support and we'll get through it easily enough" Avery smiled giving Severus' hand a loving squeeze just to prove he really was there for him.

"So how about this weekend if you're feeling up to it, you let me take you into Hogsmeade for the day, just to get out for a bit like and see the decorations?" Avery suggested watching Severus' face light up.

"I'd love to go it sounds like great fun and at least we'll be away from the castle for a little while and away from all our problems" Severus said.

"I know and just spend the day there together, last chance before Christmas we might as well go and see the decorations and perhaps even pick up a few baby things" Avery said quietly.

"Perfect" Severus beamed.

They continued on with their work writing on their exams papers happily, Severus smiled to himself amusedly he didn't even care who stared at him, he was happy and Avery made him feel so good about himself.

By the time the end of the day arrived both boys were feeling tired and increasingly anxious like tonight couldn't come fast enough. They threw their bags up in the dormitory and headed straight for the great hall both eager to get something nice to eat.

They dropped into their usual seats, piling their plates and listening to their friends' conversation both growing more nervous about the upcoming announcement.

"Can you just tell us now please?" Evan asked impatiently.

"No" said Avery.

"Yeah come on just tell us now, it can't be that shocking..." Regulus sighed.

"No just wait, okay?" Avery replied again and Regulus sighed grumpily. He wasn't used to being made to wait he was used to being a spoiled brat always getting his own way the minute he called for something.

"I don't see what could possibly be so important..."

"Oh you'd be surprised" Severus warned exchanging looks with Avery.

After dinner the two boys headed up to the library for a while, partly so they didn't get pestered by the others. Making their way inside they wound their way through the maze of bookcases right to a secluded area in the back. Avery sat down and pulled Severus onto his lap grinning, their lips barely an inch apart.

"Hi" Avery breathed.

"Hi there" Severus smirked, slowly he leaned in and kissed his boyfriend softly on the lips lingering there as he heard Avery emit a small moan his hands slipping around Severus' back.

When they finally drew apart some minutes later, both of them were grinning.

"We should really start doing some homework before Madame Pince catches us or she won't be happy" Severus giggled as Avery began to playfully kiss his left cheek.

"So what if she does, we'll give her a bit of a show" Avery grinned excitedly watching the blush scatter across Severus' pale cheeks. "By the way you look stunning as usual, I might have to be careful or someone will try and snatch you away"

"Nobody could ever take me away from you, I love you so much" Severus smiled warmly. "And you're much better than I am, I'm sure everyone else agrees all the girls stare at you"

"But that doesn't matter because I'm not interested in girls, or any other boys for that matter I just want you" Avery replied honestly looking Severus straight in the eye.

"I promise to take care of you as well, better than anyone else ever could, I promise to take care of our baby too, he or she will be well loved we'll have plenty of everything we need, don't worry" Avery said calmly.

"I love you" Severus breathed pulling Avery in for a fierce passionate kiss.

By the time he let go of a very surprised Avery, Avery was almost too dumbstruck to say "I love you too"

Eventually they did manage to get on with their homework and a few hours passed, it was starting to get late and the library would be closing shortly.

"I guess we should head down to the common room in time to meet the others" Severus said nervously as they packed up their things.

"Don't worry everything is going to be fine at least we're being honest and if they don't like it then they need to fuck off, what's the worst they can say?" Avery said slinging his bag over his shoulder.

"I guess but it's the whole confrontation thing and the problems with Mulciber that make things so much worse" Severus said worriedly as he picked up his bag, Avery reached and took it from his grasp slinging it over his shoulder with his own bag.

"Let me carry that and don't stress yourself out it isn't good for the baby" Avery smiled.

"You're way too good to me" Severus said.

"You deserve it"

They took hands and left the library making their way down to the Slytherin dungeons slower than usual trying to bide their time before the moment came when they had to tell their friends about the pregnancy.

"Are you feeling any better now?" Avery asked as they headed down the dungeon corridor.

"Health wise I feel better but I'm really nervous" Severus breathed shakily.

"Don't be, everything is fine" Avery smiled. "I feel kind of nervous too, it's natural"

They stopped outside the entrance to the common room glancing at one another.

"Are you ready to go in and tell them?" Avery asked, Severus could see the nervousness in his lover's eyes.

He took a deep breath and nodded. "Yeah we have to do this"

Avery smiled leaning down and pecking Severus on the lips, giving his hand a gentle squeeze he muttered the password and the wall slid back. They made their way through the passage and into the common room, the first thing they saw were their friends sitting on the sofas talking. At once they looked up staring at the two boys.

Severus and Avery glanced to one another a second before Severus gave a tiny nod and they walked over to their friends standing a way in front of the fireplace, their backs turned to it. Thankfully, the common room was empty.

They both stood awkwardly looking at each other for a moment before turning to their friends.

For a while nobody said anything they all just stared at Severus and Avery until finally Avery cleared his throat nervously.

"Well I guess you all know why we brought you here, Severus and I have an announcement to make" he began looking to Severus whom nodded slowly.

"Yeah we've been keeping this a secret for a while now and we thought it's about time for you to know" Severus said slowly.

"Are you seriously ill?" Regulus asked quickly looking from one to the other.

"No" said Avery.

"Has something happened to your parents?" Wilkes tried.

"No" Severus replied.

"Are you-"

"You won't be able to guess even if we sit here all night" Avery said bluntly silencing Evan in his tracks. He didn't want to make this anymore awkward than need be.

"Then what, just tell us!" Mulciber said grumpily.

Avery sighed massaging his temples with his fingers before straightening up and looking to Severus who shifted closer with nerves and fear.

"Okay... do you remember back to the start of term when we were all playing that stupid game of truth or dare?" Avery began. The others nodded looking utterly baffled as to why that had any relevance now.

"Well... that potion you gave us, Severus drank and yes it did create that opening behind his balls, it hurt him a lot for it to happen but anyway we had sex using it and we guess you didn't realise the full amount of side effects there were on the list or how serious they could actually be, you really should have done some more research into this, we all should have but it's too late now" Avery said his eyes dropping to Severus.

"Well, what is it, what did it do to you?" Evan asked quickly his eyes wide with concern.

There was a pause before Severus said.

"I'm pregnant"

That last word rang through the silence in the air, everything seemed to stand still, their friends froze on the spot as if they had been turned to stone, slowly but surely expressions came back to their faces after some minutes, normal human ones, shock, concern and confusion. Avery shifted closer to Severus wrapping an arm around his waist and giving their friends a weak smile hoping it would be enough to make someone say something. The silence became increasingly uncomfortable as the slow seconds passed, ticking by at a painful rate.

"Y-you're not serious are you, this is all a joke, right?" Evan finally spoke staring at them suspiciously as though hunting for a punch line or some hint of teasing from either of them, but nothing came.

But both of them shook their heads and looked at one another for a moment.

"No we're really not joking, we're having a baby-look" Severus said quickly pulling one of the recent scan photos from his pocket and handing it to Regulus whose mouth fell open and the others crowded closer to have a good look at the little moving, flickering image of the tiny baby.

"That one was taken last week when we had the first scan, Severus is thirteen weeks gone now so that's just over three months" Avery explained swallowing nervously.

"Oh shit..." Mulciber breathed, his eyes wide as dinner plates as he stared in utter disbelief at the photograph and then turned to gaze at Severus' stomach.

Severus fidgeted nervously a moment before turning to the side and lifting up his top exposing his growing bump to them all and they gasped. Although he wasn't heavy or large there was still an obvious little bulge growing through the pale skin under his clothes.

"You really are pregnant" Regulus said staring in awe at the little bump.

Severus blushed awkwardly and covered his stomach up, but it didn't fully stop the others from staring at him.

"That's why I've been ill, the throwing up was morning sickness, the tiredness was just a part of the pregnancy and everything else too" Severus said.

"Is this why you two are together now then, because you made a baby?" Mulciber asked curiously.

"No Severus and I got together just before he told me about the baby to make sure I wasn't only going to get with him because of it, I do really love him and I wanted him before we slept together that's why I... threw the game purposely so I'd lose and get to sleep with him" Avery admitted awkwardly watching their faces fall into further shock with each word he spoke.

"So how long have you known about the kid?" Evan asked quickly.

"Since I was about eight weeks, I told Avery at nine" Severus replied.

"And now you're...?"

"Thirteen weeks" Avery said.

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" Mulciber asked.

"Because... we weren't ready for that and we didn't know how you'd react" Avery said slowly.

"Yes and because it was early days, the baby was fine and still is perfectly alright but it just didn't seem like the right time with all the tension and everything in the air, we'd just gotten together so it wouldn't be fair to thrown everything at you like that and expect you to be okay with it cause it's not something you can just throw into casual conversation" Severus sighed.

They all remained there trapped in an awkward silence, the only sound being of the fire crackling away in the common room, nobody knew what to say or what to do until finally someone decided to say something.

"I think it's great you told us, thank you and I'll be here for support if you need me" Regulus smiled getting slowly to his feet and handing them the scan photo back.

"Thank you very much" Avery smiled.

"We really appreciate it, it's hard being a pregnant teenage boy" Severus added with a small, weak smile.

"I can't even begin to imagine" Regulus smiled. "Anyway I'm off to bed, see you tomorrow everyone" he nodded making his way for the dormitory stairs.

"Yeah I'm tired too"

"And me"

"Shall we go up?" Avery asked leaning down and pecking Severus softly on the cheek.

"Yeah I've had enough for today" the smaller boy smiled.

The four boys made their way up into their dormitory together, saying goodnight to the others they headed into their own room and shut the door. Severus went straight into the bathroom leaving Avery alone with Mulciber and Evan.

Heading over to their bed, Avery dropped his clothes and pulled on a fresh pair of warm pyjamas and waited. He could feel the other two staring at him and it only clarified his thoughts when he heard footsteps approaching, turned around and came face to face with Evan.

"I just wanted to say congratulations, about the baby" he smiled.

"Thank you" Avery smiled back as the door opened and Severus reappeared, they switched places leaving Severus alone in the dormitory with both Mulciber and Evan. Mulciber quickly got changed and slipped into bed still watching them closely.

"I was just saying to Avery, congratulations with the baby and all I hope everything works out nicely for you"

"Thanks a lot, that's very nice of you" Severus nodded, he poured himself a small cup of potion and drank it quickly to cast himself a goblet of water for the night, he sipped at it slightly.

"I also wanted to say that I'm here for both of you too if you need me and I'm sorry if anything I've said has hurt you in any way" Evan said quietly.

"It's fine, you haven't done anything wrong you've got no need to apologise" Severus smiled.

Avery reappeared moments later looking slightly worried he glanced between the three of them before making his way over to Severus and gently resting a hand on his bump before guiding him into bed tucking him in and snuggling up next to him.

"You alright?" Avery asked.

"Sleepy" Severus chuckled quietly.

"Aww bed time then I think" Avery laughed.

The lights went out almost the second he said that (thanks to Mulciber) and they all settled down to sleep. Avery quickly pulled the drapes closed around their bed hearing the others do the same meaning he and Severus could talk for a little longer.

"That didn't go too badly now, did it?" Avery smiled kissing Severus on the cheek.

"Not as bad as I expected, I'm glad we told them I just hope there's no awkwardness for weeks going to happen" Severus said quietly.

"I doubt it and even if there is, at least they know now and we don't have to worry about telling them" Avery replied.

"Now I have another suggestion for you..." Severus said slowly fiddling with the soft material covering his lover's chest.

"And what might that be?"

"That we send owls home and tell our families" Severus said gazing up into Avery's warm brown eyes as best he could in the dark.

"You think they're ready to know?" Avery asked rather surprised.

"I think it would be unfair not to tell them and then at least it gets it out of the way and we know the verdict from them, it's not good to bottle anything up when I'm pregnant my book says I have to take it easy and keep stress levels down because it isn't good for the baby" Severus replied.

"If it's good for you and for the baby then yes let's tell them, how about we send owls off in the morning?" Avery grinned eagerly his eyes sparkling in the darkness.

"Okay that's fine" Severus replied suddenly feeling both nervous and excited as to what his parents would think, although they split up if he sent his mother an owl surely she would contact his father about it he would want to know, mind you he probably wouldn't care much.

"What do you think your parents will say?"

"No idea they'll most likely be shocked, they'll ask thousands of questions about you and the baby" Avery almost shrugged, it was said so casually it actually surprised Severus. "Your mum?"

"I honestly... don't know..." Severus sighed, although his mother was a witch he wasn't so sure she would tolerate this and she would be devastated to find out her only son was pregnant at fourteen.

"Hmm how about we go to sleep and worry about that when the time comes, sound good?" Avery smiled briskly.

"Sounds great to me" Severus chuckled.

They snuggled down under the covers and Severus drew sleepy very quickly, his dark eyes fell half lidded, he slowly slipped his thumb into his mouth and Avery gave a light chuckle.

"I love you" Severus mumbled against his thumb as his other hand made its way down the front of his trousers.

"I love you too, Sev" Avery smiled.

Moments later and Severus was asleep he hadn't realised just how tired he felt, being pregnant really took it out of him especially with friends like theirs.

The next morning they woke almost late, well Severus did, Avery chose to let him sleep in a while before it was time to get up so they weren't late for breakfast.

"Come on gorgeous it's time to get up" Avery whispered against Severus' ear, Avery was fully dressed and almost ready to go. Severus groaned and snuggled further under the covers.

"Five more minutes..."

"You've had almost fifty more minutes" Avery chuckled his hands slipping beneath the covers to Severus' sides. "You gonna get up?"

"... No"

"Fine then" Avery grinned. And furiously he began to tickle Severus, the smaller boy leapt from under his blankets shrieking with laughter.

"Okay, okay I'm up" Severus laughed slipping out of bed and grinning at Avery as he combed his fingers through his hair.

"Great, just going in the bathroom back in a sec" Avery said sauntering off closing the door behind him.

With a happy sigh, Severus began changing into his school uniform, he could feel someone's eyes burning on him and he didn't like it. Footsteps approached and he automatically tensed quickly pulling his school jumper over his head.

"Umm, Severus?"

He closed his eyes for that brief second, this was the moment he had been dreading and quite frankly hoped never came. He turned slowly coming face to face with Mulciber who looked both hurt and embarrassed. This was confusing.

"Yes?"

Mulciber shuffled his feet awkwardly looking down at his black school shoes contemplating what to say next. He drew in a long slow breath that's when he noticed Mulciber had grown his hair out a little so it flopped in a dark brown curtain around his eyes.

"I just wanted to say... that I'm really, _really _sorry for everything I've done to you and Avery"

Severus barely tried to conceal the surprise on his face of all the things he had briefly anticipated this was not one of them.

"Oh..."

Mulciber held up a finger to silence him wringing his hands nervously before he went on. "I was a complete dick to you and to Avery, I'm not homophobic and I don't have anything against you two being together I had my..._ hostilities_ towards the way Avery had done this and I wished he would have told me sooner it was a shock to say the least, I never thought you would last more than a week but now I've seen it and thought about it I don't think you're very mismatched at all" he said awkwardly looking at Severus his expression increasing. "I don't want you to think of me as some sort of monster, I still want to be both of your friends and I want everything to be cool between us, clear the air and all that shit and well... now you've told us about the baby it makes things so much more serious and I just want to offer you my support if you'll take it"

Severus' mouth hung open with surprise his eyebrows disappeared in his hairline before slowly he regained composure and cleared his throat a little.

"That would be really kind of you, thanks" Severus smiled gently. "I didn't mean to cause any trouble between you and-"

"What the fuck are you doing?" Avery's voice snarled from the doorway, his eyes fixated on Mulciber like a predator.

"I was just-"

"You were just hassling him again, weren't you?" Avery snarled marching over to Severus' side at the bed.

"No I actually wasn't!" Mulciber snapped anger welling up inside of him.

Severus silenced them both by rested a hand on Avery's chest gazing up at him lovingly. "Actually he was saying how sorry he was about how he's been acting and he wants to support us" he spoke softly.

Avery's face briefly went through confusion before he smiled warmly to Severus.

Mulciber could take the hint to keep talking. "Yes I was and I hope we can put it behind us now, I really didn't think this was that serious between you two and I had no idea there was a baby involved..."

"And I was just saying that it would be great to have your support provided you treat us properly from now on and that I didn't mean to cause any trouble between you two" Severus smiled to Avery.

Avery couldn't help but grin and turned his attention to Mulciber suspiciously. "How do we know that you're going to stop all this bullshit with us? How do we know you won't turn around later on and be a massive nob again?"

"Just let me prove it to you" Mulciber said quickly. "I don't want this whole crappy situation to carry on or get out of hand I want it done and dusted with now"

Both Avery and Severus stared at him suspiciously before glancing to one another and nodding slowly.

"Okay" Avery said. "We accept your apology"

"It's good to be friends again" Mulciber smiled weakly. "And... if you really truly love each other I won't stand in your way I understand"

"Thank you" Severus replied.

There was a moments silence before Mulciber grinned to Avery in a fashion he always used to. "Bro-hug?"

"Bro-hug" Avery laughed.

Severus watched as the two friends clapped arms around each other like brothers laughing before they pulled apart and Mulciber turned his attention to Snape.

"Is it, err, okay to hug you?" he asked cautiously his eyes dropping to Severus' stomach.

Severus laughed and nodded. "Yeah just be gentle"

With that Mulciber very carefully gave Severus one of his bro-hug's and they let go quite quickly.

"Where's Evan?" Avery asked with a frown looking around the dormitory in search for him.

"I think he's in the common room, homework or something he hasn't done" Mulciber replied.

"I'm just going toilet then we can go get some food" Severus smiled slipping through the bathroom door.

"Okay babe I'll get your stuff" Avery called with a grin moving around the bed packing Severus' things into his bag. Mulciber stood watching carefully.

"So you really haven't fucked him yet, or let him fuck you?" he blurted out.

Avery almost dropped the book he was holding, he turned to stare at Mulciber with his mouth hanging open. "What?"

"Anally I mean..." Mulciber fought back the smirk.

"Oh shut up you, no we haven't had sex yet" Avery sighed stuffing the rest of Severus' things into his bag.

Just as Mulciber was about to ask another question, Severus appeared back in the room. Avery headed straight over to him and cupping his face, pulled him in for a kiss.

Severus smiled against his boyfriend's soft lips, his kisses made everything okay.

"Someone looks lovely this morning" Avery grinned as they drew apart.

"Enough of the lovey, dovey stuff in front of me I don't need to see that" Mulciber teased.

"But doesn't Severus look a little different?" Avery pointed admiring his boyfriend's face.

Mulciber stared long and hard before he nodded. "Yeah you do seem different, you look softer and more innocent?" he frowned slightly. "I don't know I can't find the right word but you do seem different, in a good way though"

"Thanks" Severus chuckled.

"Come on then, boys let's go and get some breakfast" Avery grinned lacing his fingers through Severus' hand leading him towards the door.

Down at the breakfast table everybody looked up when they arrived, the majority of their friends staring at Severus.

"Alright this morning?" Regulus asked.

"Fine thanks" Severus smiled.

"Have you two finally made up now?" Evan asked glancing between Mulciber and Avery.

"Yes actually we've sorted things out now" Avery replied with a smile.

"That's great, no more nasty comments or tension" Evan breathed a sigh of relief.

"True that" Mulciber laughed.

Two days passed and it was Thursday evening, dinner had just ended and Severus and Avery were in the library getting a head start on the homework they had been assigned to do over the holidays, they figured they may as well do it now so they had more time together and technically it was still term time.

"Tomorrow is the last day of term, looking forward to it?" Avery asked his warm eyes twinkling excitedly.

"Very much so, you?"

"Definitely" Avery laughed. "These first few months has been... turbulent to say the least"

"I know but I'm glad they happened, everything panned out well" Severus smiled.

"Me too, Sev" Avery smiled pecking him on the cheek. "I'm just going to go and look for a book I'll be back in a few minutes, are there any that you need?"

"No thank you" Severus smiled, they kissed and Avery got up to search for the book he was after, Severus watched him disappear around the bookshelves, out of sight into the History section. He sighed happily and turned back to his essay writing carefully and accurately.

It wasn't long before Severus heard footsteps approaching and he smiled to himself, it must be Avery. He looked up and was surprised to find it was a sixth year Slytherin boy, without warning he dropped into the seat next to Severus smirking strangely at him.

"Hey" he said lightly and Severus sat staring at him in confusion a line creasing between his eyebrows.

"Hey"

The boy sniffed once his blue eyes glancing over Severus' frame rather strangely, he rested his arm lazily on the back of Severus' chair.

"I've been watching you" he said again a smirk curling in the corners of his mouth.

"Because that doesn't sound creepy..." Severus mumbled turning his attention uncomfortably back to his work, or at least trying to.

The boy laughed once. "I'm Danny by the way" he grinned combing his fingers once through his long light brown hair.

"Well _Danny _I'm Severus and I think it's past time you should leave, please remove your arm" Severus said bluntly. The boy laughed again much to his irritation.

"Why the rush, I only came over to talk to you" he grinned again. "I think you're really fit, I never noticed before but now you seem to be so..." he trailed off his eyes once again roaming over Severus' uncomfortable frame and he pulled a face as though he was thoroughly impressed with the younger boy's appearance but in a rather crude way.

"Yes, well, my boyfriend will be back any minute now so bugger off" Severus snapped.

"Who's your boyfriend, that Avery kid?" the sniffed sourly.

"Yes and I love him" Severus said.

"Mm he must be happy in your relationship if he gets to come home and lay you every night" Danny almost groaned.

"We haven't had proper sex yet, the only sex we had was by use of a potion three months ago now" Severus said starting to feel rather irritated by this boy.

"What do you mean?"

Severus sighed and put his quill down, he didn't want to have to say this but he genuinely feared for his safety a little and wanted rid of this pervert right now. "I'm pregnant, the potion it created an extra opening, we had sex using that it was supposed to go away, it didn't because I conceived" he explained quickly.

A look of shock crossed the older boy's face his eyes dropped to Severus stomach and then back to his face. He seemed to be deciding what to say next so he just shrugged.

"Well congratulations to you then, but it doesn't really bother me, I'd still tap that" he grinned leaning over a little to stare down at Severus' backside making him extremely uncomfortable. "So I guess that means you're still a virgin then?"

Severus nodded slowly.

"Perfect, so how's about we go back to the common room, to my dormitory and I'll pop that little butt cherry for you?" Danny grinned suggestively shuffling closer to Severus.

"No I don't want to have sex with you, I love my boyfriend"

"Oh come on man, if you won't have sex with him then you must want to get it from somewhere" Danny tutted angrily. "I'm sure you'd like it if you gave it a chance, I could make you feel really good, yeah, bet you have a voice on you don't you? I'd love to make you scream" he dropped his voice.

"FUCK OFF!" Severus almost shouted trying to keep his voice down as I was a library after all. "The only person I would ever have anal sex with, and the only person I _want _to have full sex with is my boyfriend, Avery" he snarled pushing the guy's arm off the back of his chair.

"Calm down mate no need to get so frustrated, why don't you just let me take you back to my dormitory and work all of that tension out of your system, I don't care if you're pregnant I still want to fuck you" he growled his hand moving to rest on Severus' thigh.

"No!"

"Stop playing hard to get, your silly little boyfriend either doesn't want to have sex with you or he's getting frustrated because you haven't given yourself to him, I wouldn't be surprised if he dumped you over it most guys would" Danny asked aggressively.

"Stop touching me! Avery isn't like that you don't know him you don't know any-"

The boy laughed again. "He's still a bloke no matter how you look at it, you're one yourself you should know how it is, I will admit he's a good looking guy but if he's just not sexually attracted to you then he will make up all sorts of excuses to stop you from having sex then tomorrow he'll be off with a little bit on the side" he said nastily.

A hurt look crossed Severus' face but he shook his head. "That's not true he isn't like that, fuck off and leave me alone before I hex you into oblivion"

"Come on, you know you want it, let me pop your cherry for you I'll do it nice and thoroughly and you'll forget all about that tosser William Avery"

Severus' eyes shot up behind Danny his mouth fell open, a split second later, Avery had grabbed hold of Danny and flung him off the chair to the ground Danny yelped in pain and shock, scrambling to his feet a look of panic crossing his face.

"You stay the fuck away from him, do you hear? If I see you anywhere near him again and I'll break both of your legs with my bare hands, understood?" Avery snarled the look on his face almost feral.

The older boy backed away a little frowning, he tutted before scurrying off through the bookshelves. Avery glared after him before picking up the chair and shoving it under the table he turned to Severus taking him by the hand he pulled him swiftly to his feet and into his arms burying his face in his neck.

"I love you so much" Avery breathed.

Severus was rather surprised, he half expected Avery to be angry even though Severus did nothing wrong and never would, he was still worried about it though.

"I love you too" Severus replied cuddling him back.

They remained like that in silence for a few minutes before Avery drew back enough to gaze into Severus' face. "I heard every word that bastard said to you, right as he sat down I was on my way back I saw him put his arm around you so I stood behind one of the bookcases, the closest and watched"

Severus' mouth fell open again, Avery had been there the whole time!

"I know you haven't done wrong and I'm proud of you for that I know I can trust you anyway but that's just proof of it, I can't believe the things that disgusting bastard said to you it makes me sick" Avery said.

"Don't be angry he's gone now I guess he was just trying it on with me cause he can't get anyone else"

"He didn't get you either and with that attitude I'm not surprise" Avery chuckled.

Severus smiled warmly up at him, he really did love Avery so much.

"Hey and there's something else you said that kind of caught my attention" Avery smiled lop sidedly at Severus making him frown in confusion.

"What?"

"You said that the only person you would have sex with and the only person you want to have anal sex with is me" Avery blushed a little.

Severus couldn't control the blush that appeared on his soft rounded cheeks.

"Oh... yes"

"Does that mean you want to have sex with me then?" Avery asked hopefully.

Severus blushed again burying his face in his boyfriend's chest before nodding slowly.

"Aww well you know something?"

Severus glanced up.

"I'd really like to make love to you too" Avery smiled warmly making Severus' heart flutter wildly in his chest.

"So how about some time soon we do it then?" Severus asked.

"Sounds good to me, we could wait until next week when everybody's gone that way the dormitory will be free, we can take our time and we won't have to worry about noise or anyone walking in on us" Avery suggested.

"That's a brilliant idea" Severus smiled warmly. "I look forward to it"

"Me too and we can do it whenever you feel ready" Avery smiled comfortingly.

"Thank you, same for you"

"Thanks" Avery smiled leaning down and kissing Severus on the lips. "By the way, you know by telling him about the baby everyone in the school will find out?"

"Yeah and to be honest... I don't mind, as long as you're by my side I'll be okay, you don't mind I told him do you? I thought it would get rid of him but apparently not" Severus said quietly.

"Some guys won't care if you're pregnant they will just sleep with you even if they aren't the dad because they know it's not theirs and they can't get you pregnant" Avery chuckled.

"I wouldn't sleep with him anyway I can't stand him, I only want you" Severus said seriously.

"You've got me, don't worry" Avery said brightly. "How about we go back to the dormitory, I don't know about you but I've had enough of sick perverts for tonight" Avery smiled.

Severus laughed. "Me too"

They packed up their things, wrapped their arms around each other and headed straight for the Slytherin dungeons.

Once inside they didn't hesitate to go to their dormitory, wash up and get changed for bed.

"Do you fancy going to Hogsmeade on Saturday?" Avery asked as they slipped between the sheets, Mulciber and Evan were trying to unobtrusively stare at Severus' stomach every opportunity they got.

"Okay it'll be nice to get out of the castle for a while" Severus replied cuddling up close to his boyfriend.

"I know I want to see all the Christmas decorations" Avery said eagerly. "I love Christmas"

"Me too" Severus leaned in kissing him on the lips. "But I love you more"

"Aww Sev, I love you too" Avery replied.

By the time the next morning arrived, they both surprisingly enough managed to get out of bed without fuss. It was now the last day of term and the last day of lessons, on Sunday people would be returning home meaning Severus and Avery would have plenty of time alone together. They dressed quickly and got ready for lessons.

"How long have we been together now?" Severus mused pulling on his school cloak for the final time this year. "It must be about-"

"Just over a month now" Avery grinned. "How time flies"

"When you're having fun" Severus added. "It's been great I've felt so much better about everything I really love you"

"I love you too" Avery smiled back pulling Severus in for a kiss.

The dormitory door clicked open and a worried looking Mulciber appeared, he stopped when he saw them chewing his bottom lip nervously.

"What are you looking so worried about?" Avery asked.

Mulciber was quiet for a few seconds before he sighed. "Look I know what you're going to think but it wasn't me that told, okay?" he said quickly.

"What?" Severus frowned in confusion.

"Someone has... told everyone about the baby..."

Mulciber stared at Severus and Avery looking from one to the other very quickly, he was more in shock than they were neither of them seemed particularly bothered. Time passed and nobody said anything so Mulciber thought he should break the silence. "So aren't you upset or scared?"

"Not really, I kind of told someone last night about the baby and well... it was obviously him who told people" Severus replied.

"WHAT?"

"We knew he would tell but it's surprising how fast people react to things like that" Avery practically shrugged.

"You do know that people are down in the common room gossiping about you, they tried to pull me in for questioning but I told them to piss off" Mulciber said with a frown.

Severus' sharp intake of breath was soon relaxed and he nodded slowly. "Yeah, I guess it was about time we announced the pregnancy anyway"

"I agree" Avery nodded.

A look of relief seemed to wash over Mulciber's face and he visibly relaxed. "Oh..."

"I can't say I'm not a little bit nervous or scared about how people will react but it's time enough they should know and this whole scenario will be so much less stressful once they do" Severus said clutching the front of Avery's robes nervously.

"Don't worry everything will be okay" he smiled.

Severus looked up into his lover's face and smiled warmly back at him, trust Avery to make things better. He gave a quick nod and laced their finger together. "Let's go and face the music then" Severus sighed raising his eyebrows suggestively towards the door. Avery let out a frank chuckle before they followed Mulciber out of the safety and comfort of the dormitory and down into the common room.

The instant the doors opened and a crowd of students by the fire laid eyes on Severus they stopped conversation in order to stare at him, he could see them edging closer to one another as though they were about to converse in mutters.

Severus shuffled closer to Avery averting his eyes, he could see Avery watching them closely from the corner of his eye the expression on his face as though he was going to turn around and say something to them but he didn't.

They made their way hurriedly into the dungeon corridor and breathed a sigh of relief. Nothing happened.

"Are you alright? You look a bit tense" Avery said worriedly as they walked along the cool corridor.

"I'm fine" Severus smiled. "Just nervous and such about what people are going to say"

"They won't say anything bad, not with me around I won't stand for it" Avery said puffing out his taught chest a little.

Severus couldn't help but chuckle. "You make me feel at ease"

"Is that a good thing?" Avery quirked one of those immaculate eyebrows as Severus nodded to him.

"Definitely"

The great hall was packed and buzzing with the excitement of Christmas, the enormously decorated trees sparkling merrily with real fairy lights, the students were becoming over excited about the impending holidays. The two boys stopped allowing Mulciber to go on ahead, and stared at one another.

"Before we go in I just want you to know that I'm here for you" Avery smiled warmly a hint of nervousness crossing his handsome face.

"I know I trust you and I'm here for you too" Severus replied giving his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"You ready?"

Severus took a deep breath and nodded.

They made their way casually and as normally as possible into the great hall, Severus tried to ignore the heads that turned to stare at him a wide mixture of expressions on their faces, he could see them staring at Avery too knowing he would be feeling rather nervous as well.

A murmur rang out as the passed and dropped into their seats, they knew people were twittering on about them, about the baby, making all kinds of speculations and theories behind it. After all, they were going to be the world wide news from now on.

"Alright?" Evan greeted with a smile as they sat down and began piling their plates quickly with food.

"Fine thanks" Avery replied trying not to make eye contact with anyone but their friends he didn't want people to start coming up to them asking questions.

"Everybody is staring at us..." Severus said quietly glancing around at the students, some of them even craning their necks to get a closer look some were even trying to see his bump.

"Just ignore them, if you can't see them they're not there" Regulus said.

"Yeah come on, don't look at them" Avery said wrapping an arm around Severus' lower back and giving it a gentle rub.

They ate quickly ignoring the rest of the stares, getting up the group of boys hurried out of the great hall, their friends crowded round them a little shielding them from the shocked and curious onlookers.

"Potions is first" Evan commented watching Regulus detach and head for the stairs calling his goodbye's after him.

"Okay" Severus said quietly looking down at his shoes as he walked, they headed into the dungeon corridor. Severus tightened his grip on Avery's hand as soon as they stopped outside the classroom.

As he expected, it immediately kicked off.

"Alright there, Snivellus?" Sirius beamed his grey eyes flashing excitedly as he and James approached like a pair of vicious predators. Severus froze turning to stare at them he could feel Avery pull him closer to his side protectively.

"You'll never guess what we heard about you" Sirius said loudly catching the attention of some of the other students who all turned to watch excitedly.

"What might that be, Black?" Severus replied gruffly.

Sirius' teeth were dazzling as he stepped closer. "I hear you're up the duff, took some kind of potion and got yourself pregnant"

"What of it?" Avery said harshly straightening himself up, he and Sirius were within an inch in height and Avery was far more intimidating.

Both Sirius and James laughed, Severus could see Peter grinning madly beside them and Remus standing back against the wall his lips pursed in a thin disapproving line.

"So it's true then? Snape's having a baby" James laughed.

"Yeah he is and it's mine" Avery said quickly. "You wanna make something of it?" he growled positively glaring at the two boys.

"Ooh someone's getting defensive, didn't think you'd bother sticking around after getting him pregnant thought you'd save your life and do a runner, after all, how much of a life are you going to have tied down to that scrawny bastard?" Sirius teased, before he could even open his mouth however, Avery was on him slamming him backwards into the wall his wand pressed under Sirius' throat his teeth bared in anger.

"If I were you I would shut my fucking mouth right now before you seriously regret it" Avery snarled.

Everybody froze unsure of what to do, James reached into his pocket and pulled out his wand hesitantly running his fingers over it. He would usually hex the person's bollocks off but not Avery, everybody knew how nasty he could turn when the fancy took him.

Sirius seemed hesitant a moment, realising all eyes were on him he forced his face into a scowl and straightened up a little meeting Avery's eyes.

"I feel sorry for you, you might be a little snake but I still pity you being shacked up with Snivellus all the time, what a life that must be" Sirius hissed angrily.

Avery pressed the tip of his wand harder into Black's throat. "Say one more word against Severus and I'll-"

"What in the name of Merlin is going on here then?" Slughorn's voice caught everyone's attention. He stood just a few feet away looking worriedly between the group of boys his eyes lingering on Severus a moment longer.

"Nothing Professor" Sirius said as Avery lowered his wand stuffing it back into his pocket stepping away from the Gryffindor.

"Okay" Slughorn said keeping his eyes on them as he unlocked the door, he had a feeling he knew what this was about. "Everyone go in, Severus and William I just want a quick word you aren't in trouble" he said waving for the rest of the class to file in.

Sirius and James almost pushed past Avery shooting glares to both of them over their shoulders as they stalked in, Remus walked by with his head down and Peter went bounding after them as usual.

Slughorn waited until the rest of the class had gone in before he sighed and shut the door. "I heard what has been said this morning, everybody seems to have found out don't worry I informed the rest of the staff before there were any misunderstandings" he began.

"Thanks Professor" Avery said moving to Severus' side again and smiling at him.

"Are you both alright?"

"Yeah It's just a lot to take in, everyone knowing and that, I can't believe it's happened but it has and it's for the best" Severus replied.

"Yeah it's a lot less stress on both of us, especially Severus because it isn't good for our baby" Avery added.

"Ah that's good and you two are coping alright?" Slughorn asked looking from one to the other, they both nodded.

"Very well, if you have any problems at all or you need anything feel free to come and see me my door is always open for you" Slughorn said with a genuine smile.

"Thank you Professor" Severus smiled back. With that, they headed into the classroom trying not to look at the Marauders as they took their seats putting their books on the table.

"Right then everybody, we've got an easy lesson planned for today seeing as it's the end of term and Christmas next week, so all I want you to do is write me a series of Hypothesis' and a paragraph to explain them" Slughorn announced flicking his wand a pile of sheets scattered around the room onto the desks in front of the students.

"This shouldn't be complicated" Avery yawned stretching his arms up.

"No rather easy actually" Severus smiled warmly.

The lesson progressed rather pleasantly despite the circumstances, Severus and Avery sat together talking and laughing trying to ignore the stares, whispers and sometimes notes that fluttered down onto their table (courtesy of the Marauders). One in particular annoyed Severus as it was a charmed drawing of a baby bursting out of his arse and blood going everywhere. Avery grabbed it, tore it up and was going to go over there and start a fight but Severus grabbed his arm and asked him not to give them the satisfaction, a reaction was what they wanted.

Not just that lesson, but the rest of the day passed with minor problems. A group of first year Gryffindor's thought it would be brave of them to shout preggers at Severus and run away, Hufflepuff's sometimes jumped out of the way and Ravenclaw's looked down their nose in disgust but thankfully Severus hadn't seen that Danny all day which was a relief.

They spent lunch in the common room by the fire after having something to eat just enjoying each other's company having a cuddle listening to their friends talking and occasionally play fighting, apparently the onset of Christmas cheer was affecting them too.

By the time last lesson came around people were a mixture of tired and over excited. Severus and Avery dropped into their seats in Charms breathing a sigh of relief, Professor Flitwick gave them a multiple choice of spells to practice, pretty much anything they wanted but he really didn't seem bothered by what they did.

"Are you looking forward to tomorrow?" Severus asked brightly leaning his chin on the palm of his right hand to gaze at his boyfriend sitting next to him.

"Absolutely, it'll be nice to get out for a while, you?"

"Very, Hogsmeade is beautiful at Christmas like a little fairy-tale village" Severus chuckled.

"I was thinking we could go and get a few things for the baby while we're there" Avery suggested.

"Yeah I like that idea" Severus beamed.

The lesson ended and everyone seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, hooting and hollering they left the classroom, some students ran off for their dormitories to get changed.

"Preggers" James Potter called as they left the classroom.

"Pathetic" Severus called back rolling his dark eyes at their immaturity.

"Don't talk about yourself like that" Peter retorted with a laugh.

"Your lack of maturity never ceases to amaze me, maybe you should take some lessons from the baby when he or she is born, you might learn how to behave then" Avery called back before they disappeared down the stairs with Severus laughing.

"That was pretty funny"

Avery grinned and shrugged casually draping an arm around Severus' shoulders.

"It's true though, they are extremely pathetic" he said glaring at two Slytherin third years who just looked like they were about to say something to Severus.

"Everyone else is being kind of... inappropriate too though, the amount of things I've heard people saying about me today without speaking to anyone is ridiculous" Severus sighed as they headed into the great hall for dinner, their friends were already there and waiting.

"Don't worry about it babe, it's just the first day people need some time to get used to it, by the time they arrive back from Christmas they won't be bothered about it most of the time but you will get bigger and people will still talk" Avery said truthfully as they sat themselves down and began helping themselves to portions of food.

"Severus you'll never guess what I heard someone say about-"

Regulus thumped Evan in the ribs glaring at him to shut the fuck up.

Severus stared at them suspiciously. "What did you hear someone say?"

Evan, Mulciber, Wilkes and Regulus exchanged worried looks before Evan shook his head his eyes dropping to his dinner. "Never mind"

"No come on, we want to hear it" Avery said quickly staring hard at their friend.

Evan hesitated a moment pushing his food around the plate with his fork before continuing. "Well someone has kind of been saying you use that potion to become a woman and someone else has been saying you're gonna lay an egg"

Severus didn't know whether to laugh or cry at this statement, he was still feeling all over the place his hormones were driving him crazy as it was without people causing him trouble as well. "Well that's just bloody ridiculous I'm still a bloke and I'm a mammal, mammals don't lay eggs" he said irritably stuffing his roast potatoes into his mouth.

"If anyone says anything to any of you set the record straight, the baby isn't coming out of his arse, he's still a boy I know should and he's thirteen weeks gone already" Avery said firmly his eyes darting to the side where a crowd of other Slytherin boys and girls were listening in on him.

"Can do!" Evan grinned.

They ate quickly and hurried back to the common room before anyone else could say anything ignoring those stupid Marauders calling obscenities after them. Once inside the dormitory, they breathed a sigh of relief.

"How about we have a nice warm bath together and I'll give you a massage?" Avery smiled as they kicked off their shoes and pulled off their school ties and cloaks.

"Sounds great to me I need it after today" he chuckled.

"Just don't spunk on the towels" Mulciber called watching them head into the bathroom.

"Wrong guys, it's Evan you should be warning about that" Avery smirked and quickly shut the door before a shoe hit him in the face, he could hear Evan yelling abuse from the dormitory bed and Mulciber laughing hysterically. They then appeared to have a quiet scuffle.

Avery rinsed the bath round and turned on the taps filling it with warm soapy, rose scented water.

"Kind of feminine" Severus chuckled as his boyfriend stopped in front of him to slowly start removing his clothes.

"I think it smells rather nice, not too feminine but it smells fresh" Avery smiled pushing Severus' shirt over his shoulder revealing his little bump that seemed to have grown some more in the past few days.

"I like it too I just think it's kind of girly"

"It's not girly if boys use it" Avery chuckled.

"True" Severus grinned watching his boyfriend throw his shirt in the wash basket revealing his taught pale chest, Avery was very fit Severus had to bite his bottom lip to hold back a moan.

"Mm let's get these trousers off" Avery grinned pushing Severus' bottoms down around his ankles and quickly doing the same with his underwear watching the smaller boy step out of them.

Severus watched as Avery threw his own trousers and underwear aside, standing naked and proud before him. Severus' eyes roamed all over him stopping to linger on his member hanging between his legs.

"Like what you see?" Avery chuckled and Severus nodded.

"Mm I look forward to having that inside of me" Severus smiled his eyes settling back on Avery's face.

A visible shudder ran through Avery's body and he grinned moving around behind Severus giving his bum a gentle squeeze he massaged it groaning to himself. "And I look forward to it being inside you"

Severus blushed and let out a soft giggle. Avery moved over switched off the taps and hopped into the bath extending his arms. Severus smiled and took Avery's hand allowing himself to be pulled gently and swiftly into the lovely warm water to hug his boyfriend happily.

"Did you know that baby can make a fist and suck his or her thumb?" Severus said randomly making his boyfriend laugh with surprise.

"Really?"

"Yeah and the ribs of course, tooth sockets and just over three inches long" Severus beamed gazing up into his boyfriend's face.

"That's amazing it really is I can't wait to find out if we're having a boy or a girl, do you want to know or leave it a surprise?" Avery asked his warm brown eyes dancing.

"I kind of want it to be a surprise but I really want to know" Severus laughed.

"Boy or girl, which would you prefer?"

"Either would be fine by me" Severus sighed happily. "How about you?"

"I'm happy for either to be honest I just want it to be healthy"

"I agree" Severus smiled leaning up to kiss him on the lips.

They were in the bath for almost an hour until the water began to cool, Severus sighed with happiness as Avery finished washing his hair for him.

"Do you want to get out now? It's cooling down" Avery said wringing the water from his lover's long black hair.

"Yeah I'm really sleepy I just want to get cosy in bed now to be honest" Severus yawned.

"Okay sounds good" Avery said pulling the plug, he helped Severus out of the bath and wrapped him in a towel before doing the same to himself, they slipped back into the dormitory and Avery pulled his pyjama bottoms on under the towel before letting it fall to the floor, he watched Severus do the same with a pair of dark tartan green pyjama bottoms and matching button down top.

The clambered into bed cuddling up to one another and sighing contentedly.

"Lights are going off" Mulciber called and the room went into almost complete darkness, Severus shuffled up to kiss Avery on the lips.

"Night" Evan called and they all wished each other a quick goodnight before Severus and Avery settled back into their soft kisses once again.

When they finally drew apart, Avery reached up and fumbled with the curtain pull, the drapes swung shut and they settled back down.

"Was today better than you expected?" he asked kissing Severus blindly on the lips.

"It wasn't too bad actually, it wasn't really good but it wasn't overly bad either what did you think?" Severus replied happily.

"It was alright except those arrogant little Gryffindor berks" Avery yawned cuddling closer. "Still we can put it behind us now, Hogsmeade in the morning and loads of people are going on Sunday then it's Christmas in a few days, it's all very exciting"

"I know I can't wait, the Christmas holiday's will be a well-deserved rest" Severus yawned his eyes falling half lidded.

"Mm, I love you so much, Severus" Avery breathed kissing him once again.

"I love you too, Will" Severus whispered back. "So very much"

"Good" Avery smiled.

It wasn't long before they were sound asleep dreaming of the upcoming exciting Christmas holidays and months to come...


	8. Chapter 8

The morning light filtered through a crack in the bed curtains, Avery's eyes cracked open, he blinked sleepily several times and yawned. Reaching onto the bedside table he quickly checked the time on his pocket watch, not long until they had to get up and go down for breakfast. They were planning to go to Hogsmeade today the last chance before the Christmas holidays and hopefully get some baby things.

Rubbing his tired eyes, Avery yawned again snuggling further into Severus' back kissing the pale exposed hint of white on the back of his neck through the long flowing silky raven locks.

"Sevvie, why are you so beautiful?" Avery purred kissing his neck again deeply inhaling his strong masculine scent with just a hint of something more from the pregnancy. Avery closed his eyes and sighed happily kissing the back of Severus' neck again more vigorously this time.

Severus emitted a soft sigh and groan before turning over and burying his face in Avery's warm, strong chest his thumb still in his mouth, the other hand buried under the covers holding himself.

"Good morning beautiful" Avery greeted merrily as he stroked his fingers through that perfect ebony hair.

"Good morning to you too, sexy" Severus replied slowly opening his eyes.

"Mm we've got our Hogsmeade trip this morning" Avery smiled warmly.

"I know I look forward to it we can do some baby shopping" Severus grinned.

"And when we get back tonight we can do some serious cuddling" Avery sighed happily as he cuddled Severus tighter.

"Sounds good to me" the smaller boy grinned.

"But first we actually have to make it to Hogsmeade so come on, let's go" Avery smiled carefully sitting them both up trying to be mindful of Severus' bump.

Severus sat up properly, yawned and rubbed his tired eyes before sipping at a small measure of potion and clambering out of bed running his fingers through his hair.

Avery yawned dropping his hand from the curtain pull, stretched and slipped out from under the warm covers gazing at Severus. Evan was already awake throwing things at a bad tempered Mulciber who refused to get up just yet.

"Fuck off, Evan you bastard"

"Get up you lazy dick" Evan laughed throwing bits of junk at his friend.

"If I have to get up I'm going to come over there and punch you in the head" Mulciber growled burying himself under his covers facing away from his friends so the things couldn't hit him so easily.

"Just gonna go have a quick wash" Severus smiled.

Avery moved around and patted him on the bum. "See you in a minute, gorgeous" he smiled.

Severus blushed a little and headed into the bathroom to wash up.

Avery quickly changed into some casual clothing wrapping himself up warm with his Slytherin scarf, he pulled out some comfortably clothes for Severus, lay them up and cast a warming charm on them for when he came out the bathroom.

Severus appeared a few minutes later, Avery pecked him on the cheek before heading into the bathroom himself. By now Mulciber had actually decided to get up and was grumbling under his breath about Evan being a dick.

Severus pulled on his clean warm clothes sighing happily as he wrapped up warm. Avery had particularly chosen those clothes seeing as they were going out in the snow.

Avery re-emerged pretty quickly walking up behind Severus he gently rested his hands on his little bump.

"Lovely little thirteen week old bump" he smiled giving it a small stroke.

Severus laughed and turned around to face Avery draping his arms around his neck. Avery quickly wrapped his arms around Severus' waist.

Avery glanced briefly at the other two boys in the room watching them closely.

"Are you ready to get some food?" Severus asked

"Yes, bet you're starving" Avery chuckled.

Severus smirked leaning up to him to whisper. "Yeah, I'd really like some meat down my throat"

"Well isn't someone feeling naughty today" Avery said quietly.

"You know you love it"

"Indeed I do" Avery breathed leaning down and kissing him on the lips.

When they drew apart they picked up their things and headed down through the common room with Mulciber and Evan. They met Regulus and Wilkes in the common room and headed as a group through the dungeon corridor and out into the entrance hall. Severus and Avery walked glancing at each other happily hand in hand.

"Preggers!" James Potter shouted from the staircases but Severus and Avery just completely ignored him and went into the great hall.

They took their seats at the Slytherin table and began piling their plates chatting happily.

There was an excitable buzz in the air as the holiday's were upon them, people would be going home tomorrow to be with their families and it was Christmas in just a few days. The students were over excited, the decorations were twinkling merrily there was so much cheer in the air.

Severus smiled to himself listening to his friend's conversations as he ate his breakfast of milk and fruit on toast. His mind wandered to his own plans for Christmas and he smiled. He was finally going to give himself to his boyfriend he was finally going to make them one and although he was a little nervous he was also very excited to show Avery that kind of love and trust between them.

"Severus... Sev..."

Severus shook his head and blinked up confusedly at his boyfriend.

"Away with the fairies?" Regulus laughed as Severus got quickly to his feet.

"I was just thinking is all" Severus said feeling rather embarrassed as they left the great hall.

"Is everything okay?" Avery asked as they left the castle heading down to where the carriages waited for them.

"Of course, why wouldn't it be?" Severus asked confusedly.

"You just seemed completely zoned out of it is all" Avery replied worriedly.

"Oh I was just thinking" Severus winked at him. "About our plans"

"Ooh you can tell me all about those later" Avery smirked playfully.

Severus chuckled.

The boys headed down to the carriages, Avery opened one of the doors and allowed Severus in before climbing in himself and sitting down beside the smaller boy pulling him into his arms safely.

"You cold?"

"No I'm fine thank you" Severus smiled cuddling up to his boyfriend. "You?"

"I'm perfectly fine" Avery sighed happily.

It didn't take them very long to arrive in the pretty, snowy village of Hogsmeade. Around twenty minutes later and the carriages pulled up at the gates. Avery jumped out first to help Severus out lifting him gently and carefully placing him on his feet.

"You treat me like such a princess" Severus teased fluttering his eyelashes.

Avery laughed. "You deserve nothing less, beautiful" he took Severus' hand and kissed the back of it grinning. People stared at them a few girls said 'aww' as they passed by many of whom wishing they had a boyfriend like that.

"Why are all the good ones gay?" one girl asked as she passed by.

Both of them laughed quietly over it, draped their arms around one another and headed off down the little snow covered path through the village.

Severus always loved Hogsmeade at this time of year, the little shops were packed with people, decorated in Christmas cheer, icicles hung over window frames, snow settled on top of the roofs and there was laughter everywhere.

They passed a crowd of carollers singing Christmas songs out in the snow, but paid no attention to them.

"Where would you like to go first?" Avery asked gazing around at the dozens of little shops and the pubs.

"How about we go shopping for a few baby things?" Severus suggested.

"I like that idea" Avery nodded.

They headed right along the path to almost the end before turning off down into the next street and making their way down it until they found the place. They stopped outside and Severus grinned.

"There" said Avery triumphantly.

"It's actually really cute, it looks like a little fairy-tale cottage" Severus chuckled his eyes falling over the small building, the roof slanting down and icicles hung from it. The window was decorated with baby things and Christmas decorations, snow hung from the roof it just looked a picture from a story book.

"Let's go in it's freezing out here" Avery smiled leading Severus inside.

A bell jingled across the room as they entered, Avery closed the door and was surprised to find how large it was in there, from the outside it looked pretty small.

"Look at all this baby stuff!" Severus gasped gazing around him at the rows and racks of clothing, the shelves of toys and shoes, the wall mounted racks, the piles of clothes, the little platform across the room full of cots and travel sets for babies and toddlers.

"Good morning boys, is there anything I can help you with?" a woman's voice broke through their train of thought.

Severus turned and came face to face with a middle aged woman, about five foot four in height with soft chocolate brown hair pulled back off her heart shaped face. She smiled at them looking from Severus to Avery in turn.

"Umm yes, we're just looking for some things for a baby" Avery said glancing to Severus unsure of what to actually tell this woman.

"Very well, for your mother, sister, a friend perhaps?" the woman asked sweetly.

Severus and Avery exchanged glances before Avery smiled back. "Actually no, it's our baby" he carefully wrapped his arm around Severus' waist.

The woman stared at them in confusion for a moment. "Excuse me?" she blinked.

Avery quickly explained what happened and about the pregnancy.

The woman stared at them in complete shock before clearing her throat and smiling. "Oh well congratulations, I assume you will be looking for newborn?" she asked.

Severus nodded quickly.

"Follow me" she said before turning and walking through the shops, they made their way to the far corner where an enormous section filled with things for tiny babies were situated.

"Do you know what you're having?" she asked her eyes following between the pink and blue things.

"Not yet I'm only thirteen weeks, almost fourteen actually" Severus replied unconsciously resting a hand on his bump.

"Oh that's so nice, I'm beginning to regret not having children but sadly I doubt I've got many more years for that to happen" the lady sighed gesturing to the racks of neutral coloured clothing and blankets. "I would to have loved to have a little girl but I don't think that will ever happen that's why I opened this shop so I could see all the young Witches and Wizards having them, although, I must admit you two are the youngest I've seen" she said sparing them an awkward glance.

"Yeah it was an accident but we're actually glad it happened" Avery smiled. "We thought we'd pick up some things before Christmas so we had a couple of things for when the baby arrives we don't want to be ill prepared"

"What are you hoping for?" the woman asked as they began looking through the racks.

"We really don't mind as long as it's healthy, it feels strange though to know what we'll be having a little boy or a girl it just sounds weird to say" Severus chuckled.

"I've heard many couples say the same thing" the woman laughed lightly. "If you need anything feel free to call me" she said before walking back over to the counter.

"Oh look at this, Sev" Avery grinned picking up a little pyjama set, it was white and silver with metallic thread through the plaid bottoms with a tiny embroidered star on the button down top. "Zero to three months" he grinned.

"Let's get them and what about a packet of baby grows?" Severus chuckled picking up a packet of yellow, white and green grows.

"We have to be practical of course" Avery grinned lifting a small cream coloured cloak from the rail. "How about this?"

"Sure, and some socks" Severus said picking a set of five plain white ones. "Some little bibs" he added.

"So cute" Avery grinned.

"I know and how about we get a little hat with bear ears as well?" Severus chuckled picking it up.

"Now you're talking" Avery grinned.

They made their way to the counter with their pile of things watching as the woman rang them through and folded them neatly onto a large paper bag. They handed over the money, well, Avery insisted on paying and before Severus could argue he handed over the money and picked up the bag, also insisting upon carrying it for Severus.

"Come back soon" the lady called as they headed out the door.

"We will" Severus grinned.

"Where to now?" Avery sighed as they draped their arms round one another and began walking slowly along the snow covered cobble path back the way they came.

"How about we have a drink in the Three Broomsticks?" Severus suggested.

"Sounds good to me" Avery grinned.

Severus smiled as they made their way into the pub, Avery went to get drinks whilst he took a seat up the far back corner under the staircase where it was perfectly private.

He looked up as Avery returned carrying their drinks a smile playing on his handsome face. He rested a tall glass of iced pumpkin juice in front of Severus and had a Butterbeer for himself.

"I'm really looking forward to spending lots of time with you during Christmas" Avery smile taking a swig of his drink.

Severus nodded and blushed at the thought of what they had planned, well, not exactly planned to the finest detail they just knew that sometime over the holiday they would end up finally making love properly to one another, Severus had a feeling it was going to be utterly magical.

"So am I, I can't wait for us to just spend some time away from the whole school environment alone together" Severus breathed.

"And it will be Christmas" Avery pointed out watching Severus carefully.

"And you'll make love to me" Severus' voice was barely above a whisper but Avery heard every word.

"Indeed I will" Avery smiled warmly. "If you still want me to that is, I know you must be nervous I'm a little nervous too"

Severus nodded quickly. "Of course I want you to and yes I am nervous I won't deny it, it's a big thing and a big step in our relationship but I feel ready"

"Me too" Avery smiled then chuckled. "I guess you could say having a baby is a big step and we're already doing that"

Severus laughed. "Very true, however I fell pregnant when we were merely friends"

"I know, you shocked the hell out of me when you said you were expecting" Avery mused sipping on his drink.

"I couldn't believe you picked me" Severus began. "Out of everybody you could be with you chose me, you didn't even know I was pregnant when we got together, I know I told you about five minutes later but you had so many options it made me feel... really special" he smiled warmly.

"That's because" Avery said leaning over and tilting Severus' chin up. "You are special I wouldn't have chosen you if I didn't fancy you and have such a high opinion of you and I wouldn't give myself to you if I didn't love you"

"I really do love you, Will" Severus smiled.

"And I love you too" he smiled back leaning over and pecking Severus on the lips.

"So where do you fancy heading after this?"

"We could go round a couple more shops then head back I guess, not much else to do is there?" Severus replied.

"We could see the lights later on, don't forget how early it gets dark" Avery pointed.

"Sounds good to me I've never see them before" Severus smiled.

"Really? Neither have I, I hear their amazing so now's our chance"

"Perfect" Severus breathed leaning in and kissing Avery on the lips.

A few hours passed of the boys having a couple more drinks, buying some sweets from Honeydukes and taking a look around the other shops. They headed for the clothing store for Severus to buy some new bigger clothing.

The doorbell rang as they entered. Avery shut the door and ushered Severus further into the room to keep him warm.

"Hello how may I help you?" the kind fairly young man asked with a smile from behind the counter.

"Hello I need some more school robes, the next size up and a spare pair of trousers in the size above that too" Severus said.

"Okay what size are you currently?" the man asked turning to the boxes behind the counter.

Severus mumbled something under his breath.

"Sorry I didn't catch that?" the man blinked in confusion.

"I'm an extra small but the waist is... a little tight on me now" Severus said awkwardly.

"Extra small? Aww..." Avery grinned pulling Severus into a hug.

"I am skinny- well I was" Severus chuckled his face slightly flushed.

"He's pregnant" Avery explained to the man.

The assistant almost dropped the box he was holding as he stared between the two boys, his face washed with confusion and curiosity as though he was questioning whether or not this was a joke.

Avery quickly explained what happened to him.

The man nodded slowly after a moments silence. "Wow... congratulations, yes I'll be expecting you will need some bigger robes"

He pulled out a set of robes and some spare trousers. "Will that be everything?" he asked folding the packaged clothing into a large paper bag.

"Have you got muggle clothing and such?" Severus asked.

"Yes right through there" the man smiled pointing through an archway to the right of the counter leading into a larger room filled with racks, shelves and boxes of clothing.

"Thank you" Avery nodded as they headed through. The shop assistant stared after them, they were most certainly the strangest customers he'd ever had.

"I need some underwear to start off with" Severus said picking up a five pack of baggy boxer shorts. "I think I could just do with a few comfy clothes to sit about in and that"

"I think I'd like to see you go really casual with clothes" Avery chuckled.

"How casual?" Severus quirked an eyebrow playfully.

Avery turned around and picked up a pair of black, thick, soft jogging bottoms elasticated well at the waist so they would fit for a good long while. Severus laughed, he'd never worn something like that in his life, well, apart from when he was really little.

"You can't be serious"

"Oh but I am, I think they'd look hot on you and you have to remember that you're going to get big and normal clothes might not be very comfy on you anymore" Avery smiled handing them over to Severus.

"Well alright, if you think they're going to be good then I don't see why I can't try them" Severus shrugged happily. Anything Avery thought was a good idea, Severus would go along with because in his experience, Avery was always right.

Severus picked up a few t-shirts, some baggy jeans and a pull over black hoodie with some new fluffy socks.

"Extra comfort?" Avery smirked.

"Yeah I'm not going to be this tiny forever" Severus laughed.

"Thinking outside the box, I like that" Avery replied.

They picked up a few more comfortable clothes for Severus to wear and headed back to the till, the cashier rang everything through and they paid leaving the shop feeling thoroughly happy.

"It's getting late now" Severus commented gazing up at the dark sky above. The chill in the air had turned icy and snowflakes were beginning to fall.

"It's sort of romantic, don't you think?" Avery smiled as they stood outside the shop watching the flakes fall from the sky around them.

"Definitely" Severus breathed watching his warm breath hit the cool air. Everything around them was lit up perfectly, dozens, hundreds, even thousands of twinkling lights and torches hung merrily around shops and the enormous Christmas tree right in the centre.

Severus began to shiver.

"Are you cold?" Avery asked after a while of silence.

Severus nodded.

"Do you want to head back?" He asked softly as he wrapped his arms around Severus. "I don't want you getting too cold"

"Okay" Severus smiled. "It was nice to see the decorations they look so beautiful"

"Everything does at Christmas, I feel sorry for Muggles not being able to have things like this but I guess they make do" Avery commented.

"Yeah they do most of the time" Severus said quietly. Avery frowned glancing down at his lover.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah just thinking is all"

"Anything important?"

Severus shrugged. "Just thinking about the Christmas' I've had at home in the past"

"Oh?" Avery was curious.

"They were of course... Muggle Christmas' and they were fucking awful, my mum would get me one good present maybe a book or something but I wasn't allowed to read it in front of dad because it upset him" Severus sighed.

"But your dad has gone" Avery said.

"I know but still... my mum isn't very fun to be honest sometimes I wonder why she had me"

"Don't say things like that, your mum loves you of course she does she's your mum" Avery said firmly.

Severus just shook his head. "Sometimes I wonder"

"You love the baby inside of you, right? That you'll carry for nine months and give birth to then keep and care for?" Avery said quickly.

Severus nodded. "Of course I do"

"Then she will be the same for you" the taller boy smiled.

Severus bit his bottom lip. "But some people aren't..."

"Look, let's worry about one thing at a time, your mum loves you and even if she doesn't, our baby will love you more" Avery smiled warmly.

Severus felt his cheeks burn despite the cold. "Sounds good to me"

Avery opened a carriage door, they turned and took one last look at the beautiful little Christmas village, something like a fairy-tale post card before leaning in and kissing one another.

"Merry Christmas, Sev"

"Merry Christmas, Will" Severus smiled.

Avery helped Severus into the carriage before climbing in himself and shuffling all the bags in safely before yanking the carriage door closed and cuddling up to his boyfriend.

"Warmer?"

"Much" Severus smiled resting his head on Avery's shoulder as the carriage trundled back towards the castle gates.

Back at the castle, Avery jumped out first with all of the bags before helping Severus out which he didn't really need to do but absolutely insisted.

They headed back into the warm school, going straight down to the dungeons and putting their bags and cloaks away in the dormitory before making their way to the great hall.

"The wanderers return" Evan commented as the two of them sat down. "You have fun?"

"Yeah it was great thanks, you?" Avery asked as the dished up some dinner onto their plates, by now Severus was feeling almost ravenous and began shovelling it down much to the delight of the still speculating students.

"Yeah we had a laugh, looking forward to getting home tomorrow though, 'spect you'll be happy to get the dormitory free to yourselves for a while" Mulciber smirked.

Severus' cheeks burned but he kept his eyes on his food hoping not to draw any attention to himself.

"Mind like a sewer" Avery muttered.

Mulciber shrugged. "Gives you two a chance to have some alone time"

"Yeah away from creepers that a disturbingly excited at the thought of us having sex" Severus commented with a smirk.

"Oi" Evan flicked a pea at him. "Don't be gross"

"Spanky" Avery smirked and Evan's face went up in flames.

After dinner they all headed back to the common room and collapsed into the sofas around the fire. Severus shuffled closer and curled up in Avery's lap not even caring that their friends would be sitting watching them, Severus was beyond caring about that, they accepted them the end, it wasn't like they were a bunch of Gryffindor nomads who would jaunt, shout and harass them constantly like they knew the lions were itching to do.

"He listened to the conversation and laughter between his friends closing his eyes briefly as Avery started stroking his hair, which he had in fact been taking much better care of since they got together not wanting Avery to think he was that dirty, greasy git everyone said he was. Before he never really had any reason to care much for his appearance let alone if his hair went oily a day, and he knew he naturally had a few problems with that but who didn't? all teenagers and adults got like that it was no big deal.

But Avery was beautiful and Severus was not. He frowned ever so slightly, he'd heard the comments people made, he knew what the girls thought of him and although Avery was in Slytherin, he was known as malicious, cunning and evil but Severus knew the true side of him, he was a cuddly sweetheart who was actually looking forward to having a baby with another boy. Severus smiled to himself, of all the people Avery could have chosen he chose him, Severus and that made the young Slytherin unbelievably happy.

"What are you grinning about?" Evan asked breaking Severus' train of thought.

"Huh? Oh just stuff" Severus said quickly.

"You tired?" Avery's voice turned soft each and every time he spoke to Severus, instantly it would change no matter who he was around.

"Yeah might go bed" Severus yawned.

"I'll come up with you" Avery said. They both got to their feet, Avery stretched himself up his top sliding up enough to expose a small amount of his perfectly flat, pale stomach.

Severus sank his teeth into his bottom lip.

"Night" they called to their friends.

"See you in a bit" Mulciber replied.

They headed up to their shared dormitory, after a quick wash Severus slipped into his pyjamas and climbed into bed, he made himself comfortable peeking out from under the covers as Avery slowly stripped down into his underwear revealing his taught, hot body. He was perfect.

"I can see you" Avery chuckled grinning down at Severus buried beneath the covers watching him playfully.

Severus gave a small sweet laugh.

"Peeping on me?" Avery smirked quirking an eyebrow mischievously.

"Might have been" Severus blushed.

Avery grinned reaching for his pyjamas he slipped on the trousers still watching Severus' face.

"You're really hot" Severus mumbled the heat spreading to the tips of his ears thankful the bedding would hide his blush.

Avery gave another small chuckle. "Thank you" Severus swore he could see colour appearing on Avery's handsome face.

"I mean it" Severus said in a small voice. "you're hot, you must know you are the amount of people I've heard comment I wouldn't be surprised if they put you above Sirius Black"

Avery laughed "You make it sound like you don't think I am"

"Believe me I don't find him attractive at all, but I find you absolutely beautiful"

"Well that's good because I happen to find you absolutely stunning myself" Avery grinned yanking his top over his head and sliding under the covers beside Severus wrapping his arms gently around him.

"Today was great" Severus grinned glancing at the group of unpacked bags sitting behind him near his bedside table.

"I know you're gonna look so cute when you get bigger" Avery smiled.

"Not when I'm the size of a house, I saw pictures a few years ago from when my mum was pregnant with me she was enormous"

"You might not end up that big" Avery chuckled.

"But I probably will she's not the only pregnant woman I've seen" Severus sighed.

"Even if you do I'll still love you" Avery pressed an unbelievably tender kiss on Severus' cheek.

Severus smiled leaning in and bringing their lips together. "I love you" he whispered.

"I love you too"

That night Severus buried his face in Avery's chest and was sound asleep in record time, nothing could be more perfect.

The next late morning after breakfast and helping the other's get ready to leave they walked down to the entrance hall with them.

"Take care of yourselves and have a nice Christmas" Regulus smiled.

"You too" Severus grinned as the smaller boy gently clapped him on the back.

"Yeah, have fun" Evan grinned.

"Hey listen guys, have a really nice time together" Mulciber smiled stopping in front of them. "Keep it in the oven, Severus" he nodded his eyes flipping to the smaller boy.

"Thanks mate" Avery smiled. Things really seemed to have improved on that front.

Mulciber moved forward and embraced Avery like a brother clapping him on the back before releasing him and turning to Severus. He very carefully gave Severus one of his famous bro-hugs and released him gently not wanting to hurt the baby.

"See you soon" Severus smiled.

After saying their last goodbye's and sharing the usual scuffles and hugs, then of course the last minute panics, they waved everyone off to get the train home.

They watched everyone disappear out of sight gently wrapped in each other's embrace.

"Let's go back inside" Avery said.

Back in the entrance hall the boys were unsure of what to do with themselves, it was Sunday morning and the castle was more than half empty, hardly anyone from Slytherin was staying for Christmas, at least, not anyone they knew well enough to talk to they were the only ones of their age there.

"Alright there homo's? bet you feel big now without the rest of your little death eater gang" James' voice rang through the air horribly like nails on a blackboard.

Severus winced and turned to stare at him. "First off they are not death eaters-"

"Yet!" Peter interjected. Severus watched as Lupin rolled his eyes and shook his head standing just behind his friends, as usual, he didn't approve nor did he actually say anything.

"Second of all, why are you so obsessed with our sexuality? Homophobic are you?" Avery called loud enough for a group of Ravenclaw girls to hear as they walked by.

Sirius barked a laugh. "Of course we aren't homophobic, we've nothing against gay's"

Remus flinched noticeably.

"Yeah our friend Remus is gay but he doesn't go flaunting himself around like you fairy's, do ya Moons?" James called to a red faced Remus.

"Shut up, James" he hissed.

Severus was quite frankly, not surprised at this revelation. Remus Lupin gay? Big deal, it wasn't much of a shock, he was the most feminine one of the group, he was quiet, he behaved like he may be on the gay side of the line.

"You realise by calling us names you're also calling Lupin those things too" Avery smirked nastily.

James, Sirius and Peter exchanged glanced before looking at Remus.

"He knows we aren't directing any of it at him, we'd never take the piss out of Remus but we'd gladly take the piss out of you and preggers" James replied.

"How mature, calling me 'preggers' you really need to get a life and a new insult book" Severus tutted shaking his head with disgust. Same old, same old.

"How the fuck did you get pregnant anyway?" Sirius wrinkled his nose with disgust staring at Severus' stomach.

Severus felt Avery shift right up against him protectively.

"He took a potion that created an extra hole behind his bollocks, we had sex, he conceived, is that all you wanted to know or can I tell you what position it was in?" Avery raised one sarcastic eyebrow.

"No thanks, rather not have that disturbing mental picture to be honest" Sirius gagged.

"Yeah you must be out of your mind to shag Snivellus" Peter said.

Avery's eyes flashed dangerously and they instantly regretted what they'd said.

"We don't class it as proper sex, we're still virgin's we like to take things slowly if you must fucking know" he growled.

"In other words, frigid" Sirius smirked.

"Come on, Sev let's leave these pathetic Gryffindor scum to it" Avery said draping his arm around Severus' waist and leading him away gently.

They walked away ignoring the stupid calls from behind them, neither said anything until they reached the common room and lounged across the sofa in front of the fire, Severus laying between Avery's legs careful of his little bump.

"Thank you for sticking up for me" he smiled pecking Avery on the cheek.

"My pleasure, so what do you feel like doing today?"

Severus shrugged. "Up to you"

"How about we finish off that homework we've been planning" Avery suggested.

"Great, but let's just cuddle here for a while first, okay?" Severus smiled.

"Even better idea" Avery chuckled leaning in for a kiss.

The rest of the day they spent mostly in each other's arms, even if they did head off to the library for a couple of hours in the afternoon and finish off the remainders of their holiday homework. Severus had even suggested they take it to their teachers so they didn't have to worry about handing it in when term resumed in the New Year. Actually the teachers were happy but also rather surprised it was done, dusted and in so quickly (also a little grateful they would have two less sets of work to mark in the new year).

That evening both boy's went to bed relatively happy, it wasn't until the next morning when the problems arose...

"Good morning gorgeous" Avery smiled rolling over to cuddle against Severus' back.

"Morning to you too, sexy" Severus yawned into his pillow smiling as Avery began pressing soft kisses into the back of his warm neck. What a way to be woken up.

"Guess what tomorrow is" Avery grinned.

"Christmas Eve?"

"You got it!"

Severus laughed rolling over to face his lover gently stroking that outrageously handsome face. "Guess what today is?"

Avery looked thoughtful for just a second before his face split into a warm smile those warm brown eyes lighting up with tiny hints of gold. "You're fourteen weeks!" he breathed. "The start of your fourteenth week of pregnancy"

Severus grinned and nodded his response pulling Will in for a kiss. When they drew apart Avery pushed back the covers to gaze down at the little exposed bump beneath the covers, he ran his fingers over the slightly larger bump that was beginning to grow much quicker now, it had grown a good amount in the past couple of weeks and although he wasn't particularly large yet he was starting to show more.

"Four more weeks until we can find out if we're having a boy or a girl" Avery breathed his eyes still fixated on Severus' navel.

"When we find out I guess we should start thinking about names" Severus smiled watching Avery's fingers trail over his tummy, his skin had become much softer since he had fallen pregnant, so much more sensitive too.

"Any names you like?"

Severus shrugged. "I don't know, you?"

Avery laughed and shrugged. "Let's just wait to see what it is first then we can choose something but seeing as you're the one actually making and birthing the baby I think you should have more of a say than me"

"That's so sweet" Severus smiled. "But I want to hear names you choose to because who knows, I might really like them"

Avery didn't say anything he just simply kissed Severus again.

Half an hour later they were up, dressed and heading down to the great hall for their breakfast hand in hand. The decorations were up somehow even more vibrant than before.

The great hall wasn't anywhere near as full as it usually was making the room look even larger than before. "Wow I've never seen it like this before" Avery commented as they sat down at the Slytherin table.

They tucked into breakfast chatting normally just enjoying the start of their morning when dozens of owls (admittedly nowhere near the normal amount) flew into the great hall circling their tables finding it much easier to locate their owners.

"Oh I have a letter" Avery commented as his owl fluttered down onto the table in front of him. He took the envelope from its beak and handed the owl a piece of bread before it took off again, a second owl taking its place.

"Who's it from?" Severus asked curiously taking his own letter cautiously instantly recognising the handwriting on the front of the envelope. His mother.

"It's from my parents, you?" he glanced to the envelope in Severus' hands.

"From my mum" he said quietly staring down at it nervously.

"You wanna go first?"

Severus took a deep breath and nodded shifting himself closer to Avery ignoring his owl scarfing down cornflakes just across the table from an unused bowl. He tore open the envelope the letter falling into his hands, nervously he unfolded it and began to read aloud to Avery.

_Severus: _

_I don't know where to start this letter off other than saying I am utterly disappointed in you I thought you would have known better than to just take some potion willy nilly and allow somebody to do such a thing to you on a dare and then to conceive a baby from it? I hope you understand this is a very serious situation and that you may be with the father now and everything seem fine but when reality hits and the baby is born things will change, I know this for a fact I have been through it all. We've been through so much already especially in these last couple of months and that is why I regret to inform you that your father passed away over the weekend from severe alcohol poisoning. I cannot deal with these problems right now, do you understand what this is doing to me? Everything has been destroyed, everything has fallen apart and now you land yourself in this mess. I am not going to tolerate this, none of this would have happened if it wasn't for you. All I ask is that you do not come home this summer, I'll be going away from the house for a couple of months from now until I'm not sure when but perhaps the spring or sooner to clear my mind, but when I return please do not try to contact me again. _

_-Mum. _

Severus' voice broke as the tears began to stream down his face, the last words hanging from the tip of his tongue. He glimpsed the moving scan photo sticking out of the envelope returned, unwanted.

Severus put his head in his hands resting his elbows on the table as Avery pulled him into his arms flush against his chest trying to soothe him uttering words of kindness into his ear.

"Hey come on try to settle yourself, have you eaten enough?" Avery breathed softly.

Severus was shaking all over, nothing made sense anymore, he wasn't exactly expecting a heart-warming response from his mother but he definitely wasn't expecting her to throw all of it back in his face then try to blame him for everything that had happened. He gave a small weak nod.

"Okay let's go back to the dormitory" Avery said quietly glancing around him. By now people were starting to stare. He spotted the Marauders staring curiously at them and shook his head before guiding Severus to his feet still clutching their letters.

They hurried out of the great hall not stopping until they reached the dormitory. Avery kicked the door closed behind them holding Severus in his arms against his chest.

Severus gave in and began to sob tears streaming down his face. He couldn't believe this was happening, how could things change so fast? Why was his mother blaming him, his dad had died?

The last part wasn't an enormous shock to Severus, his father dying of alcohol poisoning was something he'd expected to happen years ago.

"Shh calm down" Avery breathed guiding Severus over to the bed, he sat him down without letting go of his embrace.

"This is all my fault..." the smaller boy sobbed, he didn't care if he looked like a complete child to Avery, he didn't care if he soaked him to the bone in tears, he didn't care how ugly he must look all the wanted was the comfort his beloved boyfriend brought to him and to try to understand this situation.

"Severus... Sev look at me"

Severus drew back enough to gaze tearfully into Avery's eyes.

"NONE of this is your fault, you did nothing wrong, okay?"

"But then why did she blame me?" Severus sniffled the tears trickling down his face.

"I don't know" Avery bit his bottom lip. "I guess she was just looking for someone to blame, she's probably having a hard time dealing with this too"

Severus' face creased the pained look on his face was enough to make tears come to Avery's own eyes. He pulled Severus back into his arms wanting to offer him security and safety from all of this. He'd never met Severus' mother or his father for that matter but right now his opinion of either of them wasn't very good at all.

"My dad..." Severus cried.

"Let it all out" Avery breathed rubbing Severus between the shoulder blades relaxing and soothing him.

After what seemed like an eternity Severus' sobbing and trembling stopped. He pulled back to look up into Avery's face. "What am I going to do now?" he whimpered.

"Well, about what first?" Avery asked.

"About everything, I have no father, a mother who doesn't want me and curses my existence and hates our baby, no home and no fucking life"

"You do have a life and this little baby" Avery rested his hand on Severus' tummy. "Is proof of that, we're going to build a better life than this for him or her and we're going to have a happily ever after, we'll pull through Sev" he spoke sincerely. "About your dad maybe we can make some arrangements or find out when the funeral is and perhaps see if you could go to that, I can come with you if you want some support?"

Severus shook his head. "No, no funerals"

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yes, no funeral" Severus nodded firmly his eyes dropping to Avery's lap.

"Okay" Avery sighed. "So here's what we're going to do"

Severus looked up into that kind trustworthy face.

"We're going to let your mum have some space, she may not want to talk now but as she said if she's going away for a few months she needs some space, when she comes back with a clear mind she might feel differently so if you want we can try contacting her or leave her well enough alone until she comes to you" Avery spoke calmly. Severus gave a small understanding nod.

"Second of all" he continued picking up the sealed letter from the bed covers turning it over in his hands, he knew this was the reply from his own parents.

"Your letter" Severus whispered wiping a tear from his cheek on the back of his sleeve.

"Should I open this now?" Avery asked warily, if it was bad news he didn't want to upset Severus further.

Severus nodded. "Yes go on open it, let's hear what your parents have to say and if it's bad news at least it's all done and over with and we know where we stand with this whole situation"

Avery nodded, opening the envelope he pulled out the paper, unfolded it and closed his eyes before taking a deep breath and staring down at the words. He began to read.

_Dear William: _

_Springing news on us like that almost gave me a heart attack you could at least have given us some warning that not only is our only son a homosexual but he's also managed to impregnate another teenage boy. Nevertheless, I can't say I'm not the tiniest bit excited to become a grandmother, your father is excited too although he is denying it right now. Your explanation of what happened was very thorough so I don't have any questions other than when is the baby due? _

_I hope you're both keeping well, how is Severus? He sounds lovely by the way I'd like to meet him soon perhaps we should meet in Hogsmeade in January it would be nice to know him before the baby arrives, he's welcome at the house any time he wants for however long he would like to stay, you both are so I hope we can make some proper arrangements. _

_Have you thought about plans yet? A baby is a big commitment, an enormous responsibility and I don't want you to get too stressed it must be incredibly hard to deal with at your age I know because I was only young when I had you if you ever need someone to talk to your father and I are here to listen for both of you. Be sure to take good care of Severus he must be feeling all over the place right now with his hormones I should know, if he ever wants a woman's advice other than his own mother's then he can always write to me. Make sure you help him and give him as much support as you can, he will need you. Please write to me every week at least with more updates, the scan photo was beautiful I've framed it. Speak to you soon, be careful now. _

_Love mum and dad xx_

"Your mother is very kind" Severus smiled staring down at the paper, he felt a little jealous that Avery's mum was so accepting and good about this when his own flat out rejected him.

"Thanks, well now that solves another problem, you can come and stay with me" Avery grinned throwing his arms around Severus who gave a tiny laugh hugging him back. "I'll send them a letter and explain what's happened, or you could write it if you like and maybe it would make you feel better"

"Thank you, I am so very grateful to you for this" Severus smiled up into his boyfriend's face. "How can I ever make it up to you?"

"Loving me and having my baby is more than thanks enough" Avery breathed stroking Severus' tear stained cheek.

They sat in silence for a little while, Severus didn't know how to feel. On one hand he was distraught, shocked, scared, worried but on the other he was happy, light and satisfied. He felt completely drained, everything had suddenly changed in the blink of an eye or quite literally overnight and he wasn't sure how to deal with it.

"How do you feel?" Avery asked gently.

"I feel completely emotionally wiped out and tired" Severus muttered resting his forehead on Avery's shoulder.

"Come on then, let's get you into bed if you take a nap for a while it might help calm you down it isn't good for the baby to get yourself so upset" Avery said nudging Severus' shoes off and help slide him under the covers.

Severus nodded pressing his cheek to the soft pillows as his lover slid I beside him stroking his hair and kissing his face.

"I really do love you, Will I want you to always remember that" Severus said seriously.

"I know and I love you too so much, I'm really sorry for what your mum has said and about your dad but you can get through this I'll do everything in my power to make it right for you"

"I really appreciate it" Severus whispered capturing Avery's lips in his own. They drew apart and Severus snuggled into his lover's chest. He felt utterly drained, devastated and confused. Why did this all have to happen right before Christmas, couldn't it have waited just a few more days? Severus closed his eyes and sighed quietly, he was going to at least try to make the best out of this bad situation and enjoy his Christmas with Avery, if not for his sake but for Avery and the baby's.

Several hours passed and Severus woke still laying in Avery's warm soft arms.

"Hey you're up" Avery's quiet voice made Severus tilt his face up to greet him.

"Yeah what time is it?" Severus yawned blinking slowly.

"Just after three, are you hungry? I can go to the kitchens and get you something seeing as it's still a while until dinner and you missed lunch" Avery offered brushing some of the fly away hairs from Severus' face.

Severus smiled. "Do you mind?"

"I wouldn't have offered if I minded" the taller boy chuckled.

"Hmm well I guess I can't pass that up" Severus grinned. Avery kissed him quickly and climbed out of bed slipping his feet into his shoes.

"I'll go down to the kitchens and come right back unless you want to come with me?"

"I'll stay here" Severus said.

"Okay see you in a minute" Avery smiled before heading through the door. He walked straight through the common room, out into the dungeon corridor through the entrance hall and down into the basement his thoughts turning to Severus.

He was worried for him, about him, about the baby and what would happen. He'd lost his family and his home, although he was welcome at Avery's he had lost his birth home, his mother abandoned him and his father died over the weekend. If this wasn't an enormous kick in the face he didn't know what was.

Avery continued walking down into the kitchens where the house elves were cleaning up in preparation of making dinner soon.

"Umm hello can I get some food for myself and my boyfriend we missed lunch" he said awkwardly.

A few of the elves turned to stare, one rather young looking one bowed so low his long nose touched the floor. "As you wish, master" he said before hurrying around the kitchen with the help of the other elves gathering various foods onto plates for them along with a large jug of pumpkin juice. When they were one Avery took the tray, thanked them with a smile and left heading straight back for the dungeons, he didn't want to leave Severus alone too long with his thoughts he didn't want to see him upset again.

Well, it was only natural he would cry, he would hurt and he would be quiet but Avery didn't want him to do it all the time he hated seeing the love of his life in tears and hurt, he couldn't believe anyone could be so horrible to their own child especially such a lovely person as Severus he really was unfortunate.

Avery sighed as he made his lonely way back down the dungeon corridor, nobody was about today and that was probably for the best, if Severus felt like coming out for dinner later there may not be very many people about.

Severus lay curled up under the covers, he felt totally numb. Frowning to himself he stared across the dormitory, had all of that really happened this morning or had he dreamt it all? It would make sense if it wasn't real, how could this possibly happen to him?

He didn't even hear the door open and Avery come in shutting it quietly behind him. He made his way over to the bed a worried smile on his face.

"Hey, you okay? I brought us some food" he showed Severus the tray.

Severus sat up slowly gazing at the tray, in reality he was hungry and he had a little baby inside of him to feed, but on the other hand he really didn't feel up to eating anything. "Thank you, oh shit I kept you from having lunch didn't I?"

"Don't worry about it you eating is more important than me because there's two of you" Avery moved over to Severus' side sitting down on the edge of the bed. They shifted around sitting facing one another the tray between them as they started eating quietly.

"You know, Severus if you want to talk about this I'm here for you and I always will be I don't want you bottling this up because I know you're the sort of person who does that and I don't want to see you in a state" Avery said gently.

Severus paused chewing a moment to sigh and carry on picking at his late lunch. "I will it's just I can't believe this has happened all in one go as well it's so much to take in my life has changed so much in the past few months, or hours really, and I'm so incredibly happy with you I just want you there with me forever"

"I am not going to leave you if that's what you're thinking, Severus, I'm not that kind of guy"

"I know you aren't and that's another reason why I love you" Severus smiled warmly. "Kiss?"

Avery grinned pecking his boyfriend on the lips.

"I still want us to have an amazing Christmas, I want to put this behind us and in a few days I will think about it and I will mourn when I'm ready but right now I want this to be perfect and I want to protect our baby"

"I understand" Avery smiled.

"And I... I still want you to make love to me, I want you to have me and take my virginity show me you love me" Severus breathed gazing up into Avery's eyes his soft lips parted with surprise. "That is... if you still want to do me" Severus flushed awkwardly.

"Of course I still want to" Avery smiled.

"Perfect" said Severus.

A few hours passed of the boys having a cuddle, dinner time approached and Severus became uncomfortable.

"I can go and get more food if you want" Avery said.

"No thanks I'll be fine going with you we have to do normal things otherwise I'll end up trapped in some weird state" Severus smiled.

Avery pulled his lover into his arms inhaling his warm scent, he was so amazing.

It was that evening when Severus was lounging across the bed, his eyes closed leaning back against the pillows propped up to the head board gently stroking his little bump.

The bathroom door opened and Avery appeared dressed in his boxers and a baggy white t-shirt for bed, it was still early but he couldn't be bothered to stay in his day clothes.

Severus glanced at him and smiled before continuing to stroke his tummy. He listened as Avery shuffled around for a moment before sitting himself down on the bed beside Severus.

"Sev?"

Severus looked up smiling into his boyfriend's face.

"I uh, I was going to give you this with your Christmas things but I think you should have it now" he said handing over a small parcel to Severus. The by blinked at him in confusion taking the present and staring at it, it felt like a book.

"Thank you but you didn't need to get me anything" Severus smiled warmly.

"I wanted to and I feel this is extremely appropriate so go on, open it" Avery smiled, Severus could see a flicker of nerves on his face but smiled and tore off the paper.

He was right it was a book.

"I thought it might be extremely useful seeing as it'll be our first time and I know anal sex must seem scary but maybe this will help you" Avery said nervously.

Severus gazed down at the cover a title written in elegant script read 'Backdoor Love' with a photograph of a man's backside being gripped firmly through his tight underwear, a drop of water which when Severus looked closer actually appeared to be lubricant created a nice effect to the cover. "Thank you" he whispered flipping it open to the first page, he leaned over and kissed Avery tenderly on the lips before turning his attention back to the book and he started to read it.

Avery moved closer to sit with his arms around Severus reading over his shoulder, the book was actually pretty interesting it went into details of foreplay, preparation, the dynamics of anal sex it even had pictures and diagrams.

After about two hours their eyes grew tired, resting the book on the nightstand Severus took a drink before curling up against Avery's chest. He'd had enough of today he just wanted it to end and wake up fresh tomorrow, none of this even seemed real. He'd been sure not to even look at the letter, he wanted to forget it all, his mother hadn't even said about a funeral date, or even expressed any concern for him she'd just left.

In truth Severus was hurt, lonely and upset about it but he'd always known his parents were like that, that one day it would come to an end and he'd be left to fend for himself, it pained him to think that other people's parents would vomit at the thought of doing what his had done to themselves, each other and their only son but for Severus it was normal and he had to accept it. Maybe Avery was right, maybe in a few months he could patch things over a little with his mother.

Severus sighed breathing in his lovers warm scent he closed his eyes. Maybe things would see brighter in the morning.

That night did not go well, Severus woke twice crying his eyes out, the first time had been about three hours after he'd fallen asleep he woke up trembling and sobbing quietly into his pillow, Avery had shifted himself closer, pulled Severus right up against him kissing and nuzzling his hair until he calmed down enough to go back to sleep. The second time was in the early hours of the morning he woke with a small scream thrashing around a little. Avery had startled awake and held him down speaking to him gently until he settled down.

"I'm sorry for waking you" Severus whispered quietly.

"It's alright I understand, it's not your fault"

Severus had cuddled back up to his boyfriend and went back to sleep thankfully with no more problems that evening.

When the morning light sparkled across Avery's face he groaned his eyes fluttering open to gaze sleepily across the dormitory. He yawned to reach up and rub his tired eyes before his gaze dropped to the sleeping form of Severus curled up in his arms, his face was softer, the worry lines disappeared, he looked young and completely innocent with his thumb in his mouth the other buried under the covers groping at himself.

Avery sighed happily watching Severus sleep for a while longer until the boy began to stir from sleep. Severus' eyes opened and he stared up into Avery's handsome face.

"Good morning"

"Morning" Severus' voice was barely above a whisper. Had all of that really happened during the night? "I'm sorry about waking you up in the night..." he said ashamed.

"It's fine you know I understand"

"And you aren't angry?"

"Of course I'm not"

"Good, what's the time?" Severus yawned.

Avery quickly checked his pocket watch. "Half eight"

"You wanna get something to eat?"

"Sure unless you want to sleep longer"

"No I'm fine and baby is screaming my cravings for me" Severus chuckled resting a gentle hand on himself under the covers.

Avery chuckled. "Cute"

"By the way... Happy Christmas Eve" Severus grinned playfully.

"Happy Christmas Eve to you too, Sev" Avery smirked.

After a small make out session they got up, dressed and headed down to the great hall for some breakfast.

The buzz around school was growing rapidly by the minute, the boys were surprised that it was this strong considering there were so many students missing. They dropped into their seats as usual and began piling food on their plates when the Marauders came sauntering in staring at them and whispering amongst themselves. Avery shot them a pure death glare warning them away, he didn't want anything else to upset Severus today enough was enough.

"I can't believe it's Christmas eve, doesn't seem like five minutes ago since the last one" Severus commented as he ate.

"I know, doesn't seem like five minutes since you told me about the baby"

"Yeah two months next week" Severus chuckled.

"Four months the week after" Avery winked. He was on about the baby and Severus flushed magenta with excitement.

After breakfast they headed back to the common room just to relax and hang out. They played a few games of Wizards chess before heading back up to the dormitory where Severus continued reading his new dirty book.

The rest of the day was spent in pretty much the same fashion, they went for a walk in the snowy grounds after lunch and by dinner time they were hungry and eagerly anticipating their Christmas dinner.

"I'm so hungry I could eat a Hippogriff" Avery commented as they made their way into the great hall. Apparently Professor Flitwick had taken it upon himself to string up some new decorations, the ceiling was snowing heavily and festive music rang out in the background it all seemed so festive and cheery Severus couldn't help but smile.

"It looks beautiful" Severus grinned as they dropped into their seats, all around them the table was covered with Christmas dinner. Turkey, pork, gammon, salad, potatoes, vegetables of every kind, cranberry sauce and all the extra trimmings.

"Not as beautiful as you" Avery winked as they helped themselves to a hefty load of dinner pouring hot thick gravy all over it. Severus blushed and smiled to himself, maybe this Christmas would turn out like he'd hoped after all. He hadn't allowed himself to think any more about his family today, too nervous he would spoil Christmas if he did.

They talked their way through the main course and when dessert arrived Severus was in heaven. "So much to choose from and only one stomach"

"Technically there's two to feed" Avery replied.

"True and I'm still hungry" Severus laughed piling a bit of everything from Christmas cake to ice cream, chocolate gateau to toffee pudding onto his plate and began shovelling it down.

After dessert Severus sighed with happiness resting a hand on his growing bump. "I'm full"

"Me too" Avery chuckled. "Shall we go back up to the dormitory?"

Severus nodded, getting to their feet they draped their arms around each other and headed back to the common room.

The two boys slowly undressed in the bathroom as Avery turned the taps shutting off the water and bubbles, a warm scent of spice filled the air and Severus inhaled deeply., Using his wand, Avery lit the candles sitting around the room, the soft romantic glow was beautiful.

Avery turned to Severus smiling warmly as he took him by the hand pressing a soft kiss to the back he helped him into the warm soothing water pulling him so they were sitting on the ledge Severus leaning back against his lover his head resting on his shoulder and he groaned with pleasure.

"It's lovely"

"You are indeed" Avery breathed.

Severus closed his eyes and inhaled again, now this really did feel like utter perfection.

Forty minutes later and they climbed out of the bath, Severus sneaking a cheeky glance at his lover's member before he was wrapped in a warm, white fuzzy towel. Avery put out the candles and they headed back into the dormitory.

Severus watched Avery pull on some casual clothing and flop down on the bed as he began to fold some of their clean washing left there for them. Severus followed suit but remained standing flexing his hands nervously. He closed his eyes in a long slow blink and let out a long deep breath. It was time.

Slowly, Severus made his way over to the bed almost shaking with nerves. He took a deep nervous breath before climbing onto the bed and crawling over to his lover. Before Avery had time to react, Severus brought their faces so close their lips almost touching as he gazed lovingly into his boyfriend's warm brown eyes.

"I love you" he whispered.

"I love you too" Avery breathed.

Severus bit his bottom lip before smiling. "I'm ready"

"Tonight?" Avery searched those pitch dark eyes.

"Yeah if you want to of course" Severus whispered.

"Yes, I do" Avery's lips curled into a perfect heart-warming smile before his fingers curled around the back of Severus' neck pulling him in for the most passionate, slow and tender kiss they'd ever shared.

Severus moaned shuffling closer so he wasn't stretching his lips moving against Avery's, he groaned again feeling his lover's tongue trace his bottom lip nipping at it asking for entrance. Severus' lips parted and Avery's tongue was in rolling rhythmically against his own so warm and moist. Severus moved again to sit in his lovers lap bringing their faces so close he draped his arms around those broad masculine shoulders as their lips locked repeatedly.

Avery's hands slid down Severus' sides brushing over the fabric of his clothing bunching it around Severus' waist he cracked his eyes open meeting intense dark ones the clouds of lust appearing in his iris'. Slowly he slipped his hand beneath the fabric coming into contact with that beautiful translucent skin of satin.

"So beautiful and soft" Avery breathed against kiss swollen lips. Severus emitted a soft breathy moan and shuddered as his lovers fingers trailed up and down his sides moving up enough he brushed a thumb over an unsuspecting nipple and Severus gasped loudly. Talk about sensitivity! He moaned deepening the kiss with hunger as Avery gently rolled his boyfriend's nipple around pinching and plucking at it playfully.

Drawing back a little, Avery broke the kiss pulling Severus' t-shirt up over his head exposing his chest and little bump. Without warning he delved down to lap at the boy's other nipple earning a shaky gasp and loud moan from him.

"Ohh feels so good" he whispered his fingers stroking through Avery's hair as the boy continued to suck and stimulate his nipples alternating between them. Severus silently thanked his pregnancy for making him feel this good.

Avery lifted his head up capturing Severus' lips in his own. Avery smiled against those beautiful lips as Severus' fingers fumbled with the hem of his top pushing it up breaking the kiss to pull it over his boyfriend's head. He drew back a moment biting his bottom lip his fingers tracing the contours of Avery's firm lightly muscled chest. He was so hot and handsome it was amazing someone could be so beautiful.

"Beautiful" Severus whispered

"Not as beautiful as you" Avery smiled warmly.

Severus smiled warmly. Leaning forward he brushed Avery's hair back enough to press kisses to the side of his neck nipping at his playfully, he felt the vibration as his lover groaned and Severus smirked to himself. He reached for Avery's pyjama bottoms he was lounging in and ran his fingers over the wrinkled hem, not an ounce of fat hung over the edges as he touched the whole way round. Slowly he tucked his fingers into the waistband and began to tug them down, with no resistance Avery shifted up higher so Severus could pull them down and off marvelling at his lover's baggy black boxer shorts, he could see his erection pressing against the fabric and suddenly Severus felt another small pang of nerves, Avery was very large it was probably going to hurt.

"You okay?" Avery whispered. Severus nodded quickly smiling to his lover as Avery reached for his trousers and gently tugged them down far enough for Severus to kick off. Avery carefully pulled Severus down against the pillows so they lay side by side, Avery's hand stroking up and down his naked side he glanced at Severus' erection straining against the fabric of his underwear and smiled. "You know if you want me to stop at any point or you're uncomfortable with anything just say so and I will don't be afraid I want this to be perfect" he said gently.

Severus swallowed and nodded. "Same goes for you"

"Thanks" Avery nodded leaning forward for another kiss as his fingers made their way back up to Severus' chest to tease at his nipples, Severus moaned his own hands moving down his lover's side feeling his every line and curve. Once again, perfect.

Severus moaned into the kiss as Avery's hand began slowly making its way down his chest, bumping over his stomach and stopping at the hem of Severus' underwear, he cracked his eyes open asking for permission, when he felt Severus smile his consent he pulled the underwear down and off throwing them to the end of the bed his hands moving instantly to curl around the boy's hard erection giving him a stroke.

Severus moaned pressing himself closer to Avery his hands moving to pluck at the hem of Avery's underwear tugging it down until Avery quickly discarded them and gasped when Severus' hand curled around his large member.

Breaking the kiss, Severus shuffled down the bed pressing feather light kisses down Avery's torso towards his crotch, he smiled at his lover's member before leaning forward running his tongue across the tip sliding his foreskin back gently. Avery hissed with pleasure his hands moving to Severus' hair as the smaller boy wrapped his lips around the head of his cock and began to suck.

"So good, Sev"

Severus moaned sending tingling vibrations through his lover's cock as he took it further into his mouth, he couldn't believe it was going to be inside of him so soon.

Severus picked up his pace enjoying Avery's soft moans until he pulled back and shuffled back up the bed to kiss his lover not wanting him to cum too quickly.

"Mm I want to do it to you" Avery groaned leaning down bringing Severus' member into his mouth sucking lazily on it earning loud moans from Severus as the boy spread his legs, he was growing increasingly aroused by the second and hoped Avery wouldn't fellate him too long he didn't want to spoil the moment by reaching orgasm too soon.

As if he could read his thoughts, Avery drew back a minute or so later gently shifting Severus onto his back and kissing him swiftly on the lips. He reached into his bedside drawer and pulled out a bottle of lubricant and Severus swallowed with nerves watching him open it.

"I-I need to prepare you so it doesn't hurt as much" Avery's voice was shaky with nerves. Severus nodded up at his lover spreading his legs as Avery made himself comfortable beside Severus squeezing a generous amount of the lube into the palm of his hand smearing it around his fingers.

Slowly Avery's hand curled between Severus' legs stroking across his member and across his plump balls, they glided past his altered perineum.

Severus jumped with surprise when his fingers brushed lightly across his anus, his eyes widened as he tilted his face to the left gazing into Avery's warm caring eyes as the fingers stroked across the sensitive tender flesh once again.

"Is this okay? I can stop if it's bad for you" Avery's voice was low and husky.

"No it feels really good" Severus whispered, he wasn't lying, it did feel very nice and he briefly wondered why he hadn't asked Will to do this before now. He moaned as those fingers added a small amount of pressure to his tiny hole massaging it gently.

Severus gasped as he felt the tip of Avery's middle left finger push through the tight ring and into his body, it didn't hurt or even burn it just felt strange.

"Are you alright?"

Severus nodded quickly. He was better than alright. He concentrated on the way Avery edged that intruding finger into his body keeping himself perfectly relaxed until it was the whole way in and he held it there for a few moments allowing Severus to get used to the intrusion.

They lay gazing at one another as Avery's finger started to thrust slowly inside of him, Severus had to admit it was very nice. He moaned feeling an index finger prodding at his anus until it carefully breeched the entrance and made its way up into his body with the first finger. It burned ever so slightly and Severus wiggled his hips impatiently wanting to feel more as he continued to stare into his boyfriend's face.

"Does it hurt?"

"No it feels nice" Severus breathed moaning as Will began to thrust those fingers a little faster inside of his lover parting and closing just enough to stretch the tight hole. "I like it a lot, what's it like for you?"

"Warm and tight" Avery graced watching Severus' cheeks turn pink.

"Mm" Severus moaned parting his legs a little further as Avery began to gently scissor him open. It continued for a couple more minutes before Avery withdrew his fingers smiling at Severus as he reached for the lubricant again, Severus took it from his hands and squeezed a dollop into his own palm before recapping it and tossing it down the bed, it landed with a soft plop and Severus turned his attention on his boyfriend's member. He propped himself up enough to reach down and carefully coat his large, throbbing erection thickly in the lubricant careful to make sure there was plenty on.

When he was done he lay back against the plumped pillows allowing Avery to climb on top of his sliding between his legs, by now Severus was shaking with nerves, it was their first time after all. He moaned softly as Avery's enormous member rested against his tight entrance, Avery shifted carefully avoiding his bump to lie over the top of him an arm resting at either side of the boy's head propping him up as he gazed into those dark pooling eyes swirling with need.

"I love you so much, Severus" he breathed his eyes were kind and honest it made Severus' heart leap in his chest.

"I love you too" he whispered back with the warmest of smiles.

"If you're uncomfortable at any point or you want to stop please tell me I want this to be special and I'm going to be as gentle as possible with you" Avery said seriously.

"I will and same for you" Severus replied.

"Thank you" Avery leaned down slowly for a kiss as he slowly pushed against his lover's tiny entrance until-

Severus' eyes widened dramatically, his breath caught in his throat and he gasped loudly as Avery's member breeched the tight ring of his anus slipping into his body until just the head was inside, his entire body tensed and his hands clenched at his lover's sides.

"Relax, Sev" Avery breathed huskily pressing kisses to his neck.

Severus' mind raced back to the book revisiting the part where the author told him to relax... Relax... RELAX? He wanted to scream and throw the books at the author's head, how was he supposed to relax?

Avery's lips interrupted his thoughts as he leaned down to tease an unprotected nipple and Severus moaned some of the tension leaving his body. Oh that was how. He concentrated on the way Avery's lips trailed slowly and sweetly back up to his neck suckling softly on the skin until their lips finally met again and Avery began to push himself in a little further.

Severus' body tensed a little automatically but he forced himself to relax, if he relaxed it felt better.

Avery drew back to gaze into his lover's face, he had never felt anything so intense in all his life, Severus was so tiny, so warm and so tight against his throbbing member. He watched as Severus' eyes slowly opened to meet his eye and Avery moaned, Severus had never looked so beautiful.

Severus struggled to contain the small noise of delight that escaped his throat as he looked up into Avery's face, the expression written across it of pure pleasure, love and affection was almost too much to bear and suddenly the pain seemed so much lesser, it faded right down purely at the thought of how good this must feel for his beautiful boyfriend.

"Do you want me to stop?" Avery's voice low and heavy with pleasure.

Severus shook his head quickly. "No" his voice was soft. "More, please more"

Avery moaned loudly pressing further into Severus' fragile body stopping when he was halfway hilted into that inviting tight heat. He held himself still until he felt Severus relax again, their eyes met and Severus smiled signalling for him to move.

And so Avery did.

And he had never felt anything so incredibly in all of his life, a loud moan broke past his lips before he could stop it, heat rushed to his head as he gently thrust into Severus at a steady rhythm.

It hurt, well, not so much hurt as it burned around his entrance not inside. The concept of what was happening, the love of his life finally making love to him, yes love, not just sex brought a new amount of pleasure to his body.

It wasn't until something inside of Severus was touched that he really felt the full force of their love. A cry escaped his throat as a wave of intense pleasure tore through his body, he threw his head back into the pillows startling Avery who had leaned back over him.

"Oh shit I'm sorry did I hurt you? I'll stop-"

"NO! fuck, oh more please give me more" Severus rasped desperately clutching at his boyfriend's body pushing his legs further apart and wiggling his hips impatiently begging for more.

Avery moaned feeling surprised yet excited, he thrust again a little harder this time watching the expression on Severus' face wash with pure pleasure as he hit that magical bundle of nerves again.

"Prostate" Severus panted looking up into Avery's delighted face. "More, go deeper I want to feel more" he groaned.

"As you wish, beautiful" Avery moaned pushing himself three quarters of the way in. Severus completely ignored the new burn around the entrance as he felt a slight brush against that wonderful spot again, he whimpered desperately lifting his legs up a little feeling his boyfriend slide deeper still thrusting inside of him although not quite as gently as before wanting to bring him more pleasure.

"Deeper, go right up to the balls make me feel you, as much of you as I can I want you deep inside of me" Severus panted.

"Oh fuck" Avery cried as he sank deeper inside of Severus his hips hitting the curve of the smaller boy's arse, he didn't pause for even a second before he began thrusting more vigorously than last time listening to Severs' constant moaning, whimpering and gasping. The pleasure was intense, it was amazing, beautiful and Avery couldn't stop thrusting he was so tight, so warm and absolutely loving this.

"It feels like I'm being fucked by a horse" Severus groaned, Avery felt huge inside of him but thankfully not too big.

"That a good thing?" Avery groaned.

"A very good thing" Severus panted. "More, fuck me harder" he gasped as Avery slammed into that hot sensitive spot repeatedly.

The air was filled with their loud gasps and moans, Severus didn't seem capable of controlling his voice or the amount of pleasure induced swearing that escaped his throat.

"Severus... I'm close" Avery cried pounding into his lover at an increasing pace.

"Me too..." Severus panted that warm pooling sensation growing inside of him the pressure building rapidly.

Picking up his pace one last time, Avery gazed down into Severus' face the expression was too much to bare with the overwhelming sensations in his penis. It was all too much and Avery thrust in one last time burying himself as deep as he could before he came with a scream.

"SEVERUS!" he cried the intensely powerful waves of his orgasm hit him in shockwaves as he came deep inside his lover.

Severus' eyes snapped wide open as he felt Avery's body contract as he came inside his bottom filling him to the brim with his hot cum until he was almost unbearably full.

Severus came. "AVERY, FUCK!" he shrieked, stars erupting in front of his eyes, his own orgasm hitting him as the pleasure coursed through his system as he came in thick white ribbons between them soaking himself and Avery in his sperm.

Their orgasm's seemed to last forever until finally Avery slumped still inside of Severus panting for breath, he felt Severus still beneath him and opened his eyes to meet those beautiful dark ones.

Without a word he slowly withdrew himself from that impossibly tight opening and rolled over to flop down beside Severus pulling him gently into his arms smothering him with kisses.

"I love you so fucking much" Severus breathed.

"I love you too, Severus you were amazing"

"So were you, thank you for being so gentle with me in the beginning it felt amazing" Severus smiled his breathing slowly returning to normal.

"Thank you for everything, fuck I love you"

"I love you too" Severus smiled warmly leaning in for another kiss.

"Talk about afterglow" Avery chuckled kissing him playfully.

"Afterglow? You mean aftershock" Severus grinned.

"You're right about that" Avery smiled nuzzling his lover's face. Carefully he pulled the covers up over them both snuggling into his boyfriend's warm body.

Severus was exhausted but incredibly happy, he yawned and kissed Avery one last time before they curled up around one another, Avery dimmed the wall lamps until they faded out and the two boys settled into sleep everything was utterly perfect.

Severus wasn't sure if it was the sex, the love between them or his general happiness but that night the nightmare's did not make an appearance. Maybe this would be the perfect Christmas after all...


	9. Chapter 9

The next morning Avery woke feeling thoroughly relaxed and refreshed. He sighed happily smiling to himself as he allowed the memories from the previous night to come filtering back. He and Severus had made love for the first time, it had been amazing, magical and utterly perfect. He yawned rubbing his tired eyes and stretched out under the covers on his back before rolling onto his side to gaze into Severus' sleeping face. As usual he was lying with his thumb in his mouth and the other hidden beneath the covers, Avery couldn't help but smile.

"I love you" he whispered gently caressing the side of Severus' face. The boy didn't stir he continued to dream on.

Avery chuckled carefully pulling his pregnant lover into his arms kissing his forehead.

A soft groan escaped Severus' throat and he furrowed his eyebrow burying himself further into Avery's chest.

"Someone's all cuddly" Avery breathed nuzzling the top of Severus' head.

"That accent..." Severus whispered a small shiver running down his slender spine.

Avery chuckled. "If yoou want to 'ear more of it, you'll 'ave ta get up an' taalk to me prop'ly" he smirked putting extra emphasis on it.

Severus laughed into his boyfriend's chest, pulled back and leaned up to kiss him softly on the lips. "Last night was amazing" he breathed.

"A know" Avery winked watching Severus' face spread further into a grin. "It was perfect for me you were so beautiful, did you enjoy it?"

"Very much so" Severus nodded. "It's Christmas" he said softly his lips curling into a smile.

"So it is, Merry Christmas gorgeous" Avery beamed.

"Merry Christmas to you too, Will" Severus smiled leaning in for a kiss. When they pulled apart both of them leaned down the sides of the bed pulling out parcels, when they turned to face one another they laughed.

"Here" Avery smiled pecking Severus on the cheek and handing the gift over to him, Severus' face spread into an enormous ear to ear grin and he handed Avery's nicely wrapped gift over.

Severus looked down at the present in his lap, well actually it was three separately wrapped parcels tied together. He smiled carefully pulling off the first and opening it. Inside was a small pendant charm necklace, dark blue partially transparent in colour it was like a crystal tied to a nice roped chain. Severus smiled and put it on carefully.

"It's supposed to help with emotionally imbalance, I thought it might be good for your pregnancy with all those hormones, I don't know sounds silly but I thought you might like it" Avery smiled blushing ever so slightly. Severus thought he looked absolutely adorable.

"I love it thank you" he smiled opening the next gift. It was two books tied together, one of them on pregnancy right through birth to the first year afterwards, the other was about Magical creatures from Vampires to Werewolves , Hinky Punk's to Hippogriff's and a lot of information about them.

"I know how much you like Defence and I thought maybe this would be of use to you, you like reference books" Avery smiled a little nervously.

"It's amazing" Severus smiled. "They both are, thank you so much"

"Don't mention it" Avery grinned.

Severus carefully unwrapped the last gift and smiled, it was a brand new dressing gown, thick enough to sleep in a very soft fleece material with a light filling, it was black in colour and would be amazing especially through his pregnancy.

"Wow this is gorgeous" Severus smiled gently rubbing it against his face.

"I thought you might like that, I got it a size up I know your old one is pretty big on you and it's the right size but this one should be perfect throughout your pregnancy as well" Avery replied his eyes resting lovingly on Severus' little bump.

"That's very thoughtful" Severus smiled, he wrapped his arms around Avery and pulled him into a tender kiss. When they drew apart he nodded to the similar packaging in Avery's hands. "Open them"

Slowly he tore off the paper on the medium sized parcel and smiled, a lovely new dark purple shirt made from satin. "It's very nice, thank you I'll wear it today"

"I thought the colour would be nice on you I know how you like fancy things"

"I like all sorts of fancies" Avery winked making Severus blush furiously and for the first time since he woke up he took note of the face that he was naked beneath the covers his entire torso on display to the world. Well not really the world just to Avery and the rest of the empty dorm. Severus watched as he tore the paper off of the next parcel, he grinned when the paper fell away and it was a handy-sized high definition mirror, the frame was marked with lovely gothic patterns.

"This is excellent" he smiled. "Just what I need to do my hair in the morning"

"And every other opportunity during the day" Severus chuckled.

"I like my hair" Avery chuckled.

"I know you do and so do I so that's why I thought this was perfect for you" he smiled.

"Well I love it thank you very much" Avery grinned turning to open the next present. This one was a new pocket Sneakoscope which Avery put carefully on the bedside table and thankfully it made absolutely no noise. "You're trust worthy" Avery chuckled.

"Didn't you know that before?" Severus worked an eyebrow teasingly.

"Of course" Avery chuckled pulling him in for a kiss. He opened the last present, it was a new pair of slippers, very nice blue and green fluffy ones. "Very nice I like them!" he smiled.

"They will keep your feet really warm"

"Mm definitely" Avery grinned. He rested his presents on the floor and pulled Severus into a kiss. "I love you"

"I love you too" Severus smiled basking in his boyfriend's love and affection. When they drew apart Severus noticed the pile of presents on the bottom of the bed. "Hey look" he said pointing to them.

"Huh? Oh wow!" Avery grinned looking between the three piles.

"Three?"

"One for me, one for you and I'm guessing one for the baby" Avery chuckled leaning forward across the bed on his knees. Severus blushed furiously sinking his teeth into his bottom lip, Avery had such a wonderful arse...

"I was right" Avery grinned turning around quickly.

Severus' blush spread to the tips of his ears. "Oh"

"Were you staring at my bum?" the taller boy chuckled.

"Maybe" Severus blushed. Gaining a little more confidence he smiled. "You have a really nice arse I'm a little jealous"

"Why? You have an incredibly arse" Avery chuckled. "Trust me I've been inside you" he smirked watching Severus cover his face with his hands trying to hide his blush.

"Aww you're too cute" Avery chuckled. "Come on let's open these" he smiled.

Trying to shake off his embarrassment, Severus shuffled forward and picked up a small lumpy parcel. The tag read;

_To Severus, Merry Christmas, stay safe _

_Mr and Mrs Avery x_

"This is from your mum and dad" Severus said surprised.

"Go on then, open it" Avery grinned.

Severus tore off the paper, inside was a brand new school scarf made from lambs wool, it was much nicer than his own his own was getting old and tatty now he really needed a new one but his mother couldn't really afford one or be bothered to help him. "I really needed a new one" he said quietly. "This is great"

"Look there are more with the same paper" Avery chuckled nodding to the pile, he was in the middle of opening his new shoes from his parents.

Curiously, Severus picked up the other two gifts, the first was a large box of chocolates, the second a pair of maternity jeans for when he gets a bit bigger. "These are really great!"

"They'd look nice on you" Avery commented feeling the ultra-soft material through his fingers. "I think they must be women's but they don't really look it"

Severus nodded with a smile. "They're really nice I like them your parents are too kind they didn't need to do this for me" Severus added with a chuckle. "I'd like to write to them and thank them for everything" he said quickly.

"Sure, can send them a letter whenever" Avery smiled.

"I'll send one tomorrow then, give the owls Christmas too" Severus laughed.

Severus was surprised to also receive a gift voucher for the baby shop for twenty galleons from Mulciber (Avery received one too), from Evan a generally interesting fiction book, Regulus got him relaxation set including massage oil especially for pregnancy and the other's sent some chocolates.

"Did you remember to send them their gifts?" Avery asked worriedly.

"Of course I did" Severus chuckled. "These are really nice"

Avery turned his attention on the middle pile of gifts and smiled. "Wanna help me open these?" he smiled holding one up, the tag flashed and Severus saw what was written on it;

_To baby, Merry Christmas love grandma and granddad x_

Severus' heart melted a little in his chest. "Awww..." tears suddenly welled in his eyes and he had to blink them away but Avery saw.

"Oh Sev don't cry..."

"I'm trying not to" Severus chuckled wiping his eyes dry. "It just touched me and my hormones- I'm emotional..."

"I know babe" Avery smiled pressing a sweet kiss to the boys temple. "So come on, help me get these open"

The one Avery was holding turned out to be a small, fluffy brown bear. His parents also sent some neutral baby grow's, socks, dummies and a little yellow fluffy towel for bath time that was designed to hold in warmth without soaking through like a normal towel, perfect for a baby. Praise the magical world!

"This is from Mulciber" said Severus opening a little package, inside was a book for young babies, a thick quilted book with noise and colours.

"This one is from Regulus" said Avery holding up a copy of 'The Tales of Beedle The Bard'.

"My mum used to read that to me" said Severus sadness washing over him. "Occasionally, she hid the book under my mattress from my dad" he began.

"Sev..."

"She used to love me a bit when I was little" Severus continued. "She didn't even send a card... I wasn't really expecting anything but even a letter would be nice just to know she really cares about me but I guess it was too much to hope for"

Avery put down the

"I know" Avery smiled. "So now we've opened our stuff how about we have a cuddle then get up and go down for something to eat? You must be so hungry with that little baby inside you" he suggested.

"Sounds like fun to me" Severus chuckled.

"You are so sexy" Avery breathed pulling Severus under the covers. "Last night was just amazing I can't stop thinking about it, making love to you was so special to me" he breathed gently tilting up Severus' chin to press tender kisses up the pale, smooth, exposed column of Severus' throat, his warm, masculine scent was so intoxicating, Avery inhaled deeply and smiled warmly. "Delicious"

Severus couldn't help but laugh. "Delicious?"

"You smell so... amazing..." Avery's eyes darkened a little as he leaned in and brought their lips together in a tender kiss.

"I love you" Severus smiled.

"I love you too" Aver grinned. "Let's get up"

They climbed out of bed, tidying away their presents and wrapping paper, they changed the bed and had a wash before getting dressed, Avery wore his new shirt and Severus thought he was in heaven when he saw the perfect shapes, lines and curves underneath it. It was an amazing colour and fit on him, the more he looked at Avery the more he realised just how outstandingly hot he is. The only reason why people hadn't tried it on with him so much before is his reputation of being an aggressive, Slytherin bad boy, Severus knew this wasn't true, he knew the real side of his lover. Girls would stare at him and giggle, guys would be jealous of him, in fact the only person that came remotely close to being as handsome was Sirius or Regulus Black but even they were nowhere near as perfect.

Severus had honestly never seen anybody like Avery before, he was pale but his skin was completely free of blemishes, smooth and satin-soft. His hair was inky black silk, so dark but some strands of a lighter (even if it was dark brown) hair falling long and straight to the bottom of his neck cut into shape around his handsome face. Those eyes, such a warm soft brown they were like pools of melting chocolate only nicer and warmer, framed with fine dark brows that if Severus didn't know any better he would have thought they'd been shaped professionally. Avery's figure, Severus could do a double take every time he saw it, slender yet lightly toned, shaped, curves and muscle in all the right places, tall but not too tall. He was just perfect.

"Why are you staring?" Avery's soft voice snapped Severus out of his trance-like state, a small smile was playing on the other boys features.

"You are incredibly hot" Severus flushed a little averting his dark eyes.

Avery just grinned, walked over to him and kissed him on the lips. "Thank you but I think you are much better" he said giving Severus a full view of his straight, pearly white teeth.

How did he get so beautiful?

They headed down to the great hall wrapped up in one another's arms, dropping into their seats at the Slytherin table they did their best to completely ignore the Marauders sitting across from them at the Gryffindor table.

After a very filling breakfast, they headed back to the dormitory where Severus sat and began to write to Avery's parents pausing every few minutes to think of what to say.

"You're really putting a lot of thought into this aren't you?" Avery chuckled lounging on the bed beside him.

"I don't want to sound illiterate or stupid to your parents I want them to like me" Severus said as he continued writing very cautiously.

"They do like you, well they like the sound of you but they aren't judgemental people really" Avery smiled. "Everything is cool"

"I still want them to think you're having a baby with someone of reasonable intelligence, not just some random man whore" said Severus.

"They know you aren't just some random bloke I somehow accidentally knocked up" Avery smiled gently stroking the side of Severus' face. "I told them I love you and they're fine with that, they're happy as long as I am and they look forward to meeting you" he smiled. "So stop worrying about things, you're fine just the way you are"

Severus smiled and leaned in for a kiss. "Thank you" he whispered against Avery's mouth.

Avery laughed softly. "Besides, I think they're really looking forward to the birth of their first grandchild"

"I'm looking forward to it too, although not the screaming agony and all that pushing" Severus replied.

"You'll do just fine, as I said before, I'm going to be here for you, day or night whenever you need me"

"Thank you" smiled Severus.

After finishing his letter, Severus sealed it in an envelope and allowed Avery to write the address on it, he'd written his own to his parents and tied them together leaving them on the bedside table to send off tomorrow.

"Right then, cuddles, massages, food and relaxation are in order for the rest of the day then" he grinned rubbing his hands together with excitement.

"I can definitely agree on that one" Severus breathed.

For the rest of the afternoon they did just that enjoying one another's company until dinner. They straightened up before heading to the great hall with their arms around one another pressing soft sweet kisses to their lips as they headed along.

Dropping into their seats they grinned at the enormous amount of Christmas dinner before them.

"I'm so hungry I could eat a whole Hippogriff" said Severus licking his lips hungrily as he began piling his plate high with food. "Today I just feel hungry, I don't know, must be something to do with my pregnancy for sure"

"Sickness has gone, hunger has kicked in" Avery chuckled piling his own plate (not quite as highly) with food taking extra care to pour a thick load of deep red cranberry sauce all over his Turkey watching his drizzle smoothly.

"It looks amazing" said Severus drowning it in warm gravy.

"Well dig in" Avery grinned.

As they started eating both of them groaned, Severus in particular. "Taste's really good"

"I know, the Turkey is perfectly cooked, this is why I love Christmas at school" Avery replied sinking his sharp teeth into the meat again" he smiled. "Maybe next year we can spend it with my parents, we'll have the baby by then and it will be amazing" Avery smiled.

"That would be so lovely" Severus smiled.

They had two helpings of their main course a full Christmas dinner with Turkey, Gammon and beef, roast potatoes, mash, mixed vegetables and all the extra trimmings before an array of fine dessert appeared.

"Mm look at all of this food" Severus smiled helping himself to some Christmas cake with warm custard and a little bit of ice cream. He watched Avery have some chocolate gateau.

"It's delicious" Avery smiled. "Make sure you get plenty to eat for the baby"

Severus laughed. "I think I've eaten more than my own weight in food today" he said with a grin.

"Well it can't do you any harm, baby likes it too" Avery pointed out. He glanced up and around at the extravagant Christmas decorations and smiled. "Everything is just too wonderful this Christmas, I can't get over it" he said.

They finished eating and Severus leaned against his boyfriend gently stroking his bloated, pregnant tummy. "I'm so full"

"After that stuffing you got last night I'm not surprised" Avery said playfully waggling his eyebrows. Severus laughed and wrapped his arms around his waist.

"I'm surprised I can walk after that"

"I didn't hurt you did I?" Avery asked worriedly. "I tried to be gentle even when you were asking for more"

"No of course not" Severus smiled up into his face. "It felt so good, it did hurt a bit at first but it was our first proper time and you're so bloody big I'm surprised it fit"

"Well it did and aren't you glad?"

Severus nodded eagerly. "Oh yes most definitely, hope you enjoyed it"

"I can't stop thinking about it" Avery chuckled. "It was brilliant"

A loud noise from the head table caught their attention and they laughed nervously.

"Maybe we should get going before the teachers get drunk and start singing or something" Severus said warily.

"I can agree with you on that!" said Avery.

They finished up an got up, leaving the great hall they made their way back to the dormitory heading straight into the bathroom for a lovely relaxing bath. Severus sat on the stool and watched as Avery cleaned up and drew the bath before dropping his clothes to the floor, he moved over to Severus' side and began kissing his neck softly as he dropped the boy's clothes to the floor.

"Nice warm bath and an early night sound good to you?" Avery purred taking Severus' hand very gently.

"Sounds amazing to me" Severus grinned. He allowed Avery to lead him into the bath slipping into the warm relaxing water, Severus groaned falling against his boyfriend's perfect chest. How did he get to be so beautiful?

"You were gorgeous last year but this year you seem even more so it's surprising" Severus commented.

Avery quirked his eyebrows. "Oh?" he chuckled lightly.

Severus felt himself blush but continued on. "You just seem different, you look like you only hotter and very well kempt and just sort of... more graceful?" Severus cringed a little, it wasn't exactly a normal term one would use on a boy but it worked.

Avery just laughed again. "You think?"

Severus nodded shyly. "Maybe I'm being stupid..."

"I don't think so" said Avery looking thoughtful a moment a strange flicker appearing momentarily in his eyes. "I think it means you take notice of me, a lot more so than other people"

"That's because I love you"

"And I love you too" Avery grinned.

They relaxed into the bath, Severus deeply inhaling the Christmas pine and spice scented bubbles (courtesy of the school) before Avery gently massaged his shoulders and they got out. They dried and dressed before climbing into bed with one another grinning eagerly.

"This has been such a wonderful Christmas" Avery smiled.

"I know, maybe next year will be even better, I hope so even though it would be a challenge to make it any better"

"For now how about we have a cuddle and go to sleep, there's still fun to be had tomorrow" said Avery. "Besides I'm feeling a little tired"

"Aww alright then" Severus nodded.

They lay there snuggled up together for what to Severus seemed like hours but he was just trying to fight the sleep away so he could lay and gaze into those gorgeous warm brown eyes for longer. But when sleep finally overcame him, they were floating through his dreams.

The next morning they woke late and after a very filling breakfast they headed up to the Owlery to send the letters back to Avery's parents. Avery practically carried Severus up the stairs to the Owlery so he couldn't possibly slip on any potential dangerous black ice there, it was bitterly cold outside and he had him wrapped in thick muggle leisure wear and two cloaks.

"I'm fine, seriously" Severus chuckled as his boyfriend put him down at the top step. "Sure I'm not too heavy?"

"Light as a feather" Aver smiled.

They headed into the little tower room, Avery snapped his fingers repeatedly until his little owl fluttered down ruffling its feathers.

"Here, take these home and when you come back there's some treats in it for you" he said handing the letters and a single small owl drop to his pet.

The owl gave an eager hoot before taking the letters, ruffling its feathers again and taking off soaring out of the tower and into the horizon completely out of sight.

They stood watching in silence for a while before they headed back down into the castle and straight into the common room to warm themselves by the fire.

The rest of the day they spend cuddling, talking about the baby and reading through Severus' pregnancy book.

"I can't believe we're having another scan next week" Severus mused as he flipped over the page to get a sneak preview. "It really doesn't seem that long does it?"

Avery shook his head. "Four months of this pregnancy, how are you finding it?"

"Surprisingly I'm really enjoying it, I never expected to, well I never really expected to find myself in a situation like this but still"

"As long as you're happy that's all that matters" Avery leaned over for a kiss. "I'll always take care of you, I'll be here for you forever"

"Sweet" Severus smiled. "But I'm hoping not to be pregnant forever, just nine months" he winked playfully and Avery rolled his eyes.

"Ha ,ha, ha, very funny"

"I do wonder what we're having" said Severus. "We can find out when I'm eighteen to twenty weeks, look the book says it's possible to tell now however it may not be very accurate"

"Because the baby's genitals will be tiny and the penis and clitoris may appear the same" Avery read aloud from the book.

"Yes" said Severus. "I don't know, what do you think?"

Avery sat staring at Severus' stomach for a few moments in silence. "I think, it's too difficult to tell because I'm not the one pregnant with it" he grinned.

Severus chuckled. "I can't tell either, I keep having strange dreams about it like there's all these pieces of paper with a thousand words on them flying around and around the room, millions in fact in a whirlwind and I have to quickly find the right one because the baby's sex is written in the middle of one of the pages"

"That is strange, you sure it's not something you're eating that's caused that?"

Severus shook his head. "No it says it's normal for weird dreams to happen in this book" he said nodding down to the open pages in his hands.

"Do you actually want to know what it is or leave it a surprise?"

"I think I could manage to wait for a surprise but I would rather know"

"I agree, the waiting game can be pretty painful" Avery chuckled. "So what about names?"

"I haven't a clue" said Severus. "Shouldn't we wait until we know what we're having?"

"I guess" Avery nodded. "It would be easier that way"

A few days passed and by the time the twenty eighth arrived they were both looking forward to the New Year.

"It's that awkward bit between Christmas and a fresh New Year's start, it's so in between I don't know what to celebrate" Avery sighed as he pulled on his clothes that morning.

"I know I feel like we should be celebrating Christmas but also like we shouldn't" Severus explained. "Maybe we should just celebrate nothing and wait for the New Year party like the rest of the school"

"You want to go?"

"To the party?" Severus quirked an eyebrow. "I guess so, it might be fun and it's something to do other than sitting here on our own all night"

"I love night time" Avery chuckled. "Always have done, but yeah I agree let's do something fun and a party is always great"

"I've never really been one for parties but I think with the supervision and the lack of students it should be fun"

"I heard some people will take the train home early to get back for the party" Avery added.

"What about the guys?"

"Not a clue they never said anything to me"

Ten minutes later they were washed and fully dressed, making their way down to the great hall (still overly decorated) they sat down at the Slytherin table and tucked into a nice healthy breakfast.

"Oh look the post is here" said Severus glancing upwards as only about a dozen owls soared into the room. He wasn't surprised when Avery's appeared with two letters clutched in its beak and landed on the table in front of them. Avery took them and handed it a large number of owl treats which were gobbled up almost instantly.

"Here this one is addressed to you" Avery said handing one of the letters over to Severus.

The boy took it nervously, his own name scrawled in lovely writing across the front of the thick envelope. Turning it over he tore it open and pulled the letter out.

_Severus; _

_Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you too, we are pleased you like your presents and it is quite alright. Seeing as we don't know the sex we bought some plain and simple odds and ends for the baby but hopefully we'll find out what it is soon! _

_We are terribly sorry to hear about your mother and father, our kindest regards we hope you will feel better soon and we'd love to welcome you into our family, despite the normal routine and status acceptance we do not mind so there is no need to feel strange or uncomfortable around us we are just pleased our son is happy no matter what, we look forward to meeting you and our grandchild during the summer if not sooner you are always welcome here. _

_Once again, enjoy the rest of your holiday's we hope to hear from you soon. _

_Love; Mr and Mrs Avery x_

"What did they say?" Avery asked glancing over Severus' shoulder at the note. He watched as Severus' face washed with confusion.

"Merry Christmas, they look forward to meeting the baby and I and they will accept me no matter what" he said quickly. "What does that mean?" he blinked pointing to the exact line.

He watched Avery's eyes scan over it quickly before a very peculiar expression appeared on his face. "Oh it's nothing" he said waving it off a little.

"Are you sure?" Severus asked cautiously, why was Avery being so strange about this?

"Yeah they say weird things sometimes, it's a Northern thing" the boy shrugged his shoulders looking away. "They replied to me as well saying they're pleased we like our presents and that you seem like a really nice, polite boy they can't wait to see you" he added with a smile.

Severus suspected he was perhaps trying to change the subject but went along with it anyway and smiled. "I look forward to meeting them even if it is nerve wracking"

"You'll be fine" Avery smiled pecking him softly on the cheek.

After breakfast they made their way back to the dormitory for a little while just to spend time together. Avery disappeared into the bathroom leaving Severus to ponder over his letter for a while longer.

What could they have meant by that? The way it sounded they obviously didn't want to offend Severus by saying something. He allowed the words to flow through his mind time and time again trying to piece something together but nothing was working.

Sighing he flopped back against his pillow and before he knew it he was sound asleep.

When Avery appeared out of the bathroom his eyes fell on Severus' sleeping form, the letter laying on the bed spread beside him. Avery couldn't help but smile as he made his way over to the bed and quietly climbed on beside him.

"Hey beautiful" he whispered very carefully stroking his fingers over Severus' cheeks, had he gained a tiny bit of weight this past week? Definitely a little around his tummy.

A few hours passed and Severus woke feeling thoroughly refreshed and relaxed. He gave a soft yawn as he tilted his head to the side and smiled. Avery was lying beside him curled up in a ball his face leaning towards him sleeping soundly.

"I love you" Severus whispered leaning in and pressing his lips delicately to his lover's.

Avery's eyes fluttered open and he moaned softly leaning into the kiss.

"What a way to be woken up" he smiled when they finally drew apart.

"I can think of another way to be woken up" Severus winked. "One that is far better than kissing but still involved the lips" he breathed.

"Mm someone is a naughty boy" Avery grinned sleepily. "Testosterone never ceases to amaze me"

"I know especially when it makes you hung like a fucking horse" Severus sank his teeth into his bottom lip. "Nice to fill up my arse with" he breathed.

"You really do have a thing for my cock, don't you?" Avery chuckled brushing some of the hairs back from Severus' face.

"I really did love it up my arse, it felt so huge like it was stretching me to the limit but it felt so good at the same time, like real love and like I was fully submitting myself to you" the boy explained. "I really love being close to you and I know you like being so intimately bonded with me, not just because it feels really good on your dick but for other reasons"

"You got that right" Avery breathed pulling him in for a kiss.

"Maybe we could do it again in a few days to celebrate the New Year" Severus said averting his eyes shyly. "I really want to feel that way again

"Me too" Avery breathed. "You were so incredible in bed I felt like I couldn't be closer to you and now it would hurt me so much to let go of you even for a second, I'd like to make love to you again whenever you're ready"

"I know I haven't got the greatest personal life, I know I am not the greatest guy around, the best looking, most popular and I haven't got too much going for me, I'll admit that to you alone but I'm just glad you see me as someone you fell in love with and you can be so close to me" Severus breathed.

"Severus I don't think you realise how much I care about you, my parents they seem to understand to some degree and that's why they accept you, because they love me so much and I'm in love with you, we made a baby" Avery smiled warmly.

Severus' black eyebrows furrowed down into a frown of confusion. "They only accept me because you're in love with me?" he queried.

Avery's face dropped a little, he looked as though he regretted what he'd just said, or at least phrased it differently.

"Will?" Severus' voice was small.

"I..."

"Please just tell me what this all means, please just tell me what they mean don't I have a right to know?" Severus asked his dark eyes filled with fear. "You know you can talk to me and tell me anything, I want to know and I care about you so much... I love you..."

Avery snuggled right up to Severus kissing him softly on the lips and pulling him carefully into his arms. "I'm a pureblood"

At first Severus wasn't sure if Avery had actually spoken, then he wasn't sure he'd heard him correctly. Horror washed over Severus as it slowly sank in...

"W-what?" he stammered.

"I'm Pure" it was almost a whisper.

Severus felt his eyes fill with tears, overcome with emotion he curled himself up as the tears began to fall and the sobs wracked through his entire body.

"Severus? Sev?!" Avery gasped pulling his boyfriend round to try and see his face but Severus buried his face in his pillow sobbing quietly into it. "What's wrong? Please tell me, have I done something wrong?"

Severus shook his head just a little. "No..."

"Then why are you crying babe? Is it a problem for you?"

Severus didn't answer, now Avery was becoming increasingly terrified.

"Please talk to me..." he breathed tears welling up in his own eyes.

Very slowly, Severus sat up tears streaming down his face as he looked into his boyfriend's eyes. "You're pure... I'm half..." he whispered.

"So?"

"I'm not worthy of you" Severus sobbed burying his face in his hands.

"Oh Severus look at me" Avery breathed gently taking his boyfriend's hands and lifting them away from his face. The boy slowly lifted his head to search Avery's warm eyes. "I love you so much babe, I don't care if you're half, I really don't, to me you are everything and I'll love you no matter what, forever" he breathed gently cupping Severus' face in his hands.

"I had no idea I thought you were a half-blood..." Severus whispered.

"I should have told you about that and I'm sorry but I love you so much and I want to be with you I just hope this doesn't change your mind about me"

"Nothing will ever make me change my mind about you, oh Merlin I have brought so much shame to your family..." Severus breathed his eyes dropping to Avery's hands still holding his face very gently.

"You have done no such thing, I ADORE you, Severus, I don't care what anybody thinks, my parents are happy with you if they weren't I'd be disowned so please never think like that again, I love you, okay?"

Severus nodded slowly. "I love you too, so much" he whispered.

Avery leaned in and gently kissed Severus on his supple lips. "I won't leave you because of your status"

"I will never leave you either" said Severus.

"Good" Avery smiled. He reached out and pulled Severus into his arms burying his face in his boyfriend's slender, pale neck deeply inhaling his warm, rich, masculine scent with a hint of something extra. A very horny teenage boy.

"I love you so don't worry, you're welcome and my parents are going to love you-they probably already do for bringing their first grandchild into the world" Avery added quickly.

Severus' cheeks flushed an odd pink and he looked up into his boyfriend's face his own eyes reddened and a little puffy from crying.

Avery simply smiled and gently wiped the tears away from his delicate cheeks. "There, want me to dab some cold water on your face?"

Severus shook his head. "I'll be fine" he spoke softly. "Shall we go down for some dinner?"

Avery nodded quickly. "I'd like that" he said.

After a very nice dinner, even if they did get some lop sided filthy looks from the Gryffindor table which were thankfully ignored. They headed back to the dorm to play a few games of Wizard's chess and practice some of the charms they had been set to learn over the holiday's (even if they had already learned them) they wanted to make sure they had them down completely to impress Professor Flitwick in the New Year's classes next week.

A couple of days drifted by and the thirty first arrived sooner than they could have expected.

Unsurprisingly during the past week, Severus' bump had grown a bit more and could now be seen protruding a bit through his clothing, people wouldn't think of him as pregnant but they would think of him as having gained a considerable amount of weight, he wasn't huge but his stomach had definitely changed.

"Look at you all pregnant and hot" Avery smiled watching Severus pull on a clean white shirt as they got ready to go to dance.

"Thank you" Severus smiled turning himself around to inspect his figure in the mirror. "Not quite so masculine any more, well I am sort of but I've lost my straight V" he sighed running his hands down his now more shapely sides, his hips had widened just enough to support the growing baby's weight and his sides had bloated out a little with the weight he'd gained.

"Ah I don't mind if you aren't a straight shape any more, you've got a baby in there, you have an excuse and growing and gaining weight is good for him or her" Avery smiled.

"I know, I can't wait to find out what he or she is I just want to stop calling it, it" Severus chuckled.

"I know what you mean" said Avery in deep agreement.

"So what do you want to do for the rest of the day?" Severus yawned stretching his arms above his head.

"I guess we should nap this evening so we can stay up for the bells" said Avery glancing at his pocket watch. "Anything you feel like doing? It's your call"

"How about we take a walk? I feel kind of agitated just sitting around all day and maybe we'll find something to do on our travels" Severus suggested watching Avery get up from the bed and make his way over to him smiling.

"I like that idea" he grinned.

They pulled on their shoes and cloaks before leaving the dormitory hand in hand.

They paced through the castle talking easily about the weeks ahead, what they expected from lessons during the New Year and how they would actually tell the rest of the school about the baby, they were concerned, there was no denying it, Severus in particular seemed uneasy at the prospects of what people would say.

"I think, first day back we shouldn't let anyone upset us, new start for everyone and all" said Avery as they strolled through the snowy grounds.

"You think people will be nice to us?"

The boy shrugged and smiled. "I think that it's best to just get it out in one and not make a huge fuss or announcement over it, really it's nobody's business but they were going to find out eventually, I'm glad we told them and when you start to get bigger and bigger by the week and you can't hide the fact any longer, someone may have eventually accused you of being pregnant, they will know in the end so why not just bring it out in the open and save all that speculation and stress?"

"You do have an excellent point" said Severus. "Let's do that then" he smiled up into his lover's face. "We can tell them that way before I get too big"

"Sounds good and if anyone starts on you I will hex them senseless and I am not joking, they will be in the hospital wing for a week if they try anything..." Avery said, his old cool voice returning that Severus hadn't heard in quite a long time.

"I don't want you getting in shit"

"I won't, I'll be sure of it" Avery chuckled. "How about we go back inside before you get cold"

Severus nodded with a smile. "That would be nice"

They headed back into the castle wandering the corridors with their arms around one another for almost two hours until dinner was ready. They went to the great hall and piled their plates high with food.

The Christmas decorations were still up but not as exuberant as before, there were large boxes of what Severus could only describe as banners and other random assortments for the New Year decorations that would go up in place for the dance later on. It wouldn't be a proper ball but it would be a party nonetheless to celebrate the New Year.

After finishing a rather large three course dinner and ignoring the usual faces from the Marauders par Lupin, the two boys headed back to Slytherin. They washed up and stripped into their underwear climbing into bed for a while.

"Let's take a nap and we can wake up later on and get ready for the dance, alright?"

Severus nodded sleepily curling up against his boyfriend's body. "And party until dawn..." he breathed his eyelids drooping heavily.

A laugh erupted from Avery's throat. "If you really feel up to it"

Severus' lips curled into a smile "Maybe not until dawn then..."

"Didn't think so" Avery grinned. "Love you" he breathed kissing Severus on the forehead his lips lingering there a few moments as Severus mumbled his declaration of love back.

It didn't take long for either of them to drift off.

A few hours later, Severus woke to Avery gently shaking him awake. "Hmm?" he groaned furrowing his eyebrows.

"Time to get up if you want to go to the party" Avery's voice filtered through his mind and he opened his eyes gazing into those deep, warm brown eyes of his boyfriend.

"Okay" Severus muttered rolling onto his back and stretching out like a cat under the warm bedding. He yawned throwing back the bed covers watching as Avery turned to shift through his own trunk pulling out some clean, rather smart clothes.

He got up, rummaging around in his own trunk he felt slightly embarrassed watching Avery pull out the finest of silk shirts, a black cashmere jumper, some dark jeans and a long, smooth black cloak, he had nothing of the sort to wear for himself. He quickly pulled out a school shirt and some slightly frayed rough old jeans with a plain black, if not a little faded cloak. He pulled them on quickly straightening them out before turning back to smile at Avery and his mouth fell open with surprise.

"Something wrong?" Avery asked worriedly.

Severus shook his head a little "No you just look amazing..." he breathed his dark eyes roaming over his boyfriend's body.

"Thanks you look very nice yourself" Avery smiled gently resting his hands on Severus' sides. "Hot"

"M'not" the smaller boy blushed.

"Yes you are" Avery smiled. "I just love the way you get all flustered when I compliment you, a bit like a girl but more Severus-like" he added with a small chuckle as he pulled the other Slytherin into his strong arms. "Let's finish getting ready and go before you decide to argue with me some more" he winked.

"Sorry"

"I'm not having a go at you babe I was only joking" said Avery.

"Oh, well okay then" Severus smiled.

They had a quick wash, brushed their teeth and hair before heading down through the common room strolling towards the great hall.

"The music is really loud" Severus chuckled as they made their way into the great hall. They were greeted at the doors by a rather unusually happy looking Professor McGonagall handing out bottles of Butterbeer to the new arrivals.

"Happy New Year!" she smiled giving them one each.

Severus glanced down at the bottle in his hand sceptically quirking an eyebrow. He opened his mouth to speak but Professor McGonagall cut across him.

"It'll be fine for you to have there's hardly anything in it" she smiled.

"Oh, thanks" said Severus. "Happy New Year" he nodded as they passed and made their way properly into the room.

"Let's get a seat for a bit" Avery called over the thump of the music and Severus nodded allowing himself to be taking over to the back left corner where several tables were sitting decorated in long draping cloths for people to sit on. They sat down and Severus took the opportunity to gaze around the room as he sipped his drink lazily.

The four house tables had been moved making room for the dance floor, the ceiling above was a beautiful swirling mass of navy, purple and black dotted with millions of stars and the odd harmless cloud drifting by, the music was pounding and students were already up laughing and dancing. At the front above the high tables long black drapes had been placed across the windows blocking out the outside light from the moon, in front of the curtains was an enormous clock apparently suspended in mid-air the time ticking down from five to eleven until midnight.

"You feeling okay?" Avery asked pulling Severus into his lap.

"Just a bit tired still" the smaller boy smiled.

"Well if you want we can just go back to the dorm if you really aren't feeling up to this tonight" said Avery.

"No, no, I'm fine" Severus laughed placing his drink on the table by his elbow and draping his arms around his ridiculously handsome boyfriend's shoulders. "It's just because I'm not long up, once we have a dance then I'll be feeling better" he called over the music.

Avery's lips curled into a grin revealing his sharp, pearly white teeth. "How about a kiss then?"

"Gladly" Severus breathed leaning in and capturing his lover's lips in his own.

"Eww get a fucking room!"

"Makes me wanna puke!"

"Gross!"

The two boys completely ignored the voices of James, Sirius and Peter jeering at them over the noise of the music. It was New Year, they were having fun and there was no harm in that so why should they let a group of pathetic little boys get away with ruining that for them?

When they drew apart slowly, Severus was still smiling.

"Wanna dance?" Avery asked.

"I don't dance but for you I'll make an exception" Severus chuckled. He slid off of Avery's lap, took him by the hand and swept onto the dance floor.

They danced through four songs before Severus grew tired and had to sit down again, Avery went off and returned moments later with a large pumpkin juice for him.

"Thought it might be better than gulping down loads of Butterbeer" he smiled handing his boyfriend the drink while he himself had another bottle.

"Thank you, yeah probably not good for the baby to keep sucking down that stuff all night even if there is very little alcohol in it, it could mount up"

"Mm sucking down" Avery winked earning a playful bat on the arm from Severus.

"Dirty mind!"

"Don't try and say you don't have one because I know you do" the boy chuckled making Severus blush.

Severus thanked the darkness to hide his horribly red face. "Shush" He smiled when Avery leaned in and pecked him on the cheek.

"Are you feeling better now?"

"Definitely more awake, I've woken up" Severus chuckled as he looked up at the clock. "Fifteen minutes to go" he sighed.

"Yeah until we break in the New Year, seems strange that this year is coming to an end already doesn't it?"

"Yeah especially after everything that has happened" Severus replied. "You know, I think it's been a good year all things considered, well mostly good and we've both been through a lot I just hope that next year is just as good"

"I'm sure it will be" Avery smiled. "You'll be ready to drop in a few months and we'll have a little baby, of course then you can finally meet my parents and come and stay in my house over the summer with baby and who knows, maybe your mum will come round, we've got loads coming up for us, hard times and good times and I really think that next year will be our year there's just so much fun, excitement and surprises"

"It does sound rather exciting" Severus breathed. "I love you"

"I love you too" Avery smiled leaning in for a kiss.

When they drew apart they both glanced up at the clock.

"Five minutes" Severus breathed. "Wanna get up and have a dance?"

Avery nodded very eagerly. He swept Severus off of his feet and onto the dance floor pulling him close and pressing tender kisses to his lips, he seemed to awake and alert tonight.

Severus moaned into his lover's mouth smiling brightly.

"Severus I just want to tell you I really, really love you" Avery breathed pulling back a little so he could gaze into Snape's dark, twinkling eyes.

"I love you too" Severus graced.

"Ten!"

"Count down" Severus breathed.

"Seven!"

"Goodbye to this old great year and hello to the next" Avery breathed. "We've had ups and downs but it has been all round alright even though we have been through so much in these past few months" he added with a soft, light chuckle.

"Three!"

"Two" Severus breathed.

"One" whispered Avery leaning in...

"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" the roar of the relatively medium sized crowd was almost ignored as at the very same split second the two boys lips fell against one another in a tender yet oh so passionate kiss.

The cheers, roars, shouts and echoes of sound, the small blasts of sparks overhead eventually brought the two Slytherin's back from their dazed kissing, they smiled cuddled close as they gazed around the room.

"Happy New Year" said Severus.

"Happy New Year!" Avery beamed.

The music burst again and this time even the teachers joined the students on the dance floor.

For Severus and Avery the party raged on for another half hour before Severus swiftly pulled his lover aside ignoring the fact there were a group of pretty girls gawking at Avery and whispering to one another sending him very flirtatious looks, he didn't need to feel threatened by them because Severus knew Avery valued him much more.

"Hey" Severus breathed pushing Avery back into the stone walls of the great hall.

"Well hi" Avery's eyes widened with surprise.

Severus smirked, his own black eyes falling half lidded as he gazed up into his boyfriend's face. "So Happy New Year"

"Happy New Year..." Avery breathed swallowing almost nervously.

"Can I tell you a secret?" Severus' lips curled further into a smirk.

Avery nodded, intrigued.

Leaning in Severus whispered "I'm really fucking horny"

Avery let out a long shaky breath his eyes widening dramatically. "Gods..."

"Maybe you'd like to go and celebrate the New Year in style... back in the dormitory... naked in bed... with me" Severus breathed leaning in for another soft kiss.

"There is nothing I'd want more right now" Avery swallowed again, his arousal was already rapidly firing blood to his nether regions.

"Let's get going then" Severus breathed lacing his fingers through Avery's and gently guiding him towards the door. They ignored the staring Marauders and obviously jealous group of girls as they passed pulling one another into swift kisses the entire way back to the common room.

They hurried into the dormitory, stripping into their underwear they washed up before Severus literally threw himself at Avery knocking the boy backwards onto the bed being careful of his bump as he crawled over the top of him crushing their lips together in a passionate kiss.

When Avery was finally let up for some air he gazed wide eyed, lightly flushed and very aroused into Severus' eyes. "You are so fucking sexy tonight, what has gotten into you?" he whispered.

Severus blushed and averted his eyes momentarily. "Nothing... yet..." his eyes dropped between them to where he could see Avery's erection bulging in the front of his underwear.

Avery shuddered and moaned pulling Severus in for another kiss his hands roaming up the smaller boys sides right up his chest his thumbs rolling over Severus' over -sensitive nipples and-

"Ah!" Severus moaned his arms going weak with the sensations.

"Does that feel really good for you" Avery whispered against his boyfriend's lips.

"Yes" Severus whispered as another shudder wracked his body. "They are so sensitive"

"What if I were to fuck you, brush my cock against your prostate and play with them at the same time?"

Severus let out a surprisingly load groan. "That would be so incredible"

Avery moaned softly as he carefully stroked Severus' nipples again, he spared a glance between his boyfriend's legs to where his erection was straining against the fabric of his underwear a tiny dark spot was beginning to appear. Slowly his hands slipped down Severus' body tucking into the waist band of his underwear, he looked up into his boyfriend's face asking for permission, Severus smiled warmly biting his bottom lip in a way that made Avery squirm as he quickly tugged them down and off tossing them to the end of the bed carelessly.

Severus moaned feeling Avery's palm smooth over his rounded backside gently cupping him.

"Your arse is so fucking hot" Avery breathed as he continued to kiss his lover.

"I'm really horny tonight, I'm gagging for it" Severus breathed.

"You really wanna get fucked don't you?" Avery chuckled gently squeezing his lovers backside.

"So much" Severus groaned wiggling his hips a little until Avery spread his cheeks, a finger slowly slipping between them to caress his tight anus. Severus threw his head back and moaned pressing his backside forever closer into Avery's finger.

"I need to prepare you" said the taller boy, he reached over into the bedside drawer pulling out a bottle of lubricant, Severus watched him coat his fingers in it before pressing them back between his plump cheeks stroking his tight pucker again.

"Can I suck you?" Avery purred as he continued to tease his fingers over Severus' entrance.

Severus moaned and nodded. He allowed himself to be gently rolled onto his back so they switched around, Avery's lips trailed down his slender body and over his baby bump towards his erection. He moaned as he took Severus into his mouth suckling lightly on the head of his member.

A soft breathy noise escaped Severus' lips as his lover took the entire head of his erection into his mouth sucking down his length and dragging his mouth slowly back up again.

"That's so good..." Severus panted as Avery quickened his pace a little. He moaned loudly wriggling his hips around with pleasure. "I really want to get fucked, can I suck you for prep?" he panted lustfully.

Avery shuddered and moaned loudly pulling his face back.

Severus' lips curled into a smirk, he enjoyed making his lover squirm with delight.

"You know how to seriously turn me on don't you?" Avery breathed as Severus sat up hooking his fingers into his boyfriend's underwear.

"I do" the boy chuckled pulling them down and off exposing Avery's enormous, throbbing erection. "I still don't get how the fuck it fit inside me" he whispered sinking his teeth back into his bottom lip as he gazed at the long, thick member before him. "It's big enough to destroy my arse"

"Sev..." Avery moaned.

"I really want to feel it inside me tonight, even if it does stretch me to the limit" Severus breathed before leaning down and engulfing Avery's member in his mouth sucking on it roughly and swirling his tongue around the tip.

Avery was instantly hissing, moaning and panting with delight. He groaned with displeasure when Severus suddenly pulled back after only about two minutes of fellating him to sit back on his knees and smirk at his boyfriend.

"I really want to make love to you" Avery breathed cupping the side of Severus' face in his hand.

"Then do it" Severus said. "Give it to me long, hard and deep"

"Are your pregnancy hormones making you sex mad?" Avery chuckled quirking an eyebrow playfully.

Severus blushed a little and continued to smirk. "Maybe just a little... or a lot"

"Well Severus I find it extremely hot"

"You can show me how hot you find it" the smaller boy winked placing his hand on Avery's chest and pressing him back down onto the bed against the pillows. Avery reached for the lubricant as Severus climbed over him. Carefully he smeared a thick dollop of lube over his erection and squeezed a fair amount onto his fingers again, slowly his fingers slipped between Severus' cheeks once again to caress his tiny entrance making him moan and push back into those probing fingers asking for more.

Slowly Avery pushed his index finger of his left hand inside until it was fully inserted inside the boy, he paused allowing Severus to get used to the intrusion before continuing to carefully prepare him.

When Severus was prepared only a couple of minutes later, Avery coated himself and Severus' anus in the thick, clear substance before helping Severus to carefully press his hips down as Avery held his member steadying it against his anus.

"Are you ready?" Avery whispered, his eyes swirling with need, his voice low and husky.

"I'm ready" Severus breathed and carefully began to sink himself down onto his boyfriend's large erection.

"Gods, shit, fuck, fuck" Severus panted, his eyes widening as the head of Avery's member penetrated his tight ring of muscle.

"Am I hurting you?"

"No" said Severus pausing for a few seconds to get used to the intrusion.

"If you feel uncomfortable tell me and I'll stop, okay? I don't want to hurt you" Avery breathed.

Severus swallowed, smiled and nodded as he leaned down to lie hovering over his boyfriend's body being very cautious of his little bump. Another ten seconds passed before Severus began to move his hips sliding down a little further on his boyfriend's penis feeling it spread him a small amount more, it felt like there was a lot inside but he knew he was only in a couple of inches. He moaned as his body loosened a little more allowing him to sink deeper to halfway with only a slight burn around the very entrance, it didn't really hurt but it felt so good.

Picking up his pace a little, Severus set a nice, steady rhythm, Avery's hands came to rest on his bottom holding him steady. Severus moaned softly pushing down a little further and continuing his thrusting back down against the erection.

"Severus…." Avery panted carefully thrusting his hips up to meet the curve of his boyfriend's bottom in time with his thrusting. "Your arse is so fucking amazing..."

"Your cock is so fucking amazing" Severus panted pushing himself three quarters of the way inside. "Gods it's so big how the fuck did you grow this thing?"

"I don't know it just happened" Avery swallowed his cheeks flushed with arousal. "I never really noticed it was particularly that big but I guess that's because I'm looking down at it"

"Yes because you're hung enough to give a Hippogriff a run for his galleons" Severus moaned, and with one long thrust he was seated balls deep on Avery's enormous member.

Avery let out a soft cry of pleasure arching his back off of the bed and gazing into Severus' eyes lustfully.

"I really love anal sex" Severus panted moving in time with Avery's hips.

"So do I" Avery breathed. "I want you to fuck me sometime as well because I want to know what it feels like to be done in the arse and I want you to feel what it is like to top"

"You want me to do you?" Severus flushed even further as they continued to fuck.

"Of course I do babe" Avery groaned grinding up into Severus' prostate. The reaction from the boy was incredible, Severus threw his head back gasping and then barely containing a small cry of delight, the curve of his back arching as he drew in another breath his cheeks flushed, his eyes half lidded.

Severus gazed back at Avery whimpering as the boy pressed back into his prostate again, the sensations sending shockwaves through his body.

"Gods you turn me on so much, your pregnancy turns me on as well" Avery moaned as Severus picked up his pace thrusting down faster against the straining erection.

"I am so horny, my hormones are driving me wild for you" Severus breathed quickening his pace one last time.

"Fuck... Sev I'm gonna cum..." Avery panted thrusting himself deep and pounding up into his boyfriend's body enjoying the cries and whimpers of delight escaping those beautiful rosy lips.

"Inside" Severus panted looking Avery straight in the eye. "Cum inside me"

And with that Avery thrust up hard burying himself as deep as he could go inside his lover, Severus cried out with a mixture of both pleasure and surprise as his boyfriend came hard inside of him filling him to the very brim with his semen.

Severus couldn't take it, it was all too much and he exploded in thick ribbons all over himself and his lover.

Moments later and Severus sagged panting heavily, his dark eyes closed.

Very slowly he looked up after some minutes gazing lovingly into Avery's beautiful seemingly darker warm brown eyes. "I love you"

"I love you too" Avery breathed holding out his arms.

Very carefully Severus shifted allowing his boyfriend's large, softening member to slip from his body, he cum leaking down his thighs.

"Let's see" Avery whispered tapping his lover on his bottom. The boy turned around blushing a little as Avery moaned at the sight of him. "Beautiful" he whispered turning Severus around and pulling him into a kiss. "Happy New Year, Sev" he grinned as they curled up in bed together.

"Happy New Year it's been the best one ever" Severus sighed happily.

It wasn't long before the two boys drifted off to sleep dreaming of what only could be in store for them in the next few weeks...


	10. Chapter 10

_Avery brushed through the darkness, everything was surrounding him strangely, there was a light fog in the air, the rustle of twigs and undergrowth brushing against his black leather school shoes. Then there was a light, a small light at the end, carefully he made his way towards it, as he got closer it grew brighter and he blinked trying to keep it from burning his sensitive eyes. As he grew closer he began brushing things out of the way, branches, bushes and shrubbery._

_When he reached the light he pushed his way through into the moonlit entrance of a deep dark forest, he must have just come from another part and could see lights glinting but not quite where they were, a tall building of some sort? A house? A mansion? A castle?! _

_He breathed a long sigh before a rustling caught his attention, the bushes parted and to his surprise, Severus appeared standing there in the moonlight. His skin was pale, almost translucent, his hair long and black as night, his eyes... Avery felt his breath catch in his throat, he couldn't even look into his gleaming eyes. _

_Severus reached out slowly and picked up his hand turning it over, their skin was matching pale, they felt the same, they felt one. Severus was slim, he was slender but there was still a small amount of baby weight around his middle, somehow Avery knew Severus had given birth. And he smiled his lips rosy and beautiful, strangely beautiful, he looked different but even then Avery was having trouble meeting his eyes. Suddenly Severus' head turned sharp and his eyes focused on something through the trees, Avery knew something was there, and it was on the move. _

_Severus bolted after it a strange noise escaping his throat, a normal person wouldn't be able to react like Avery did, he tore after Severus, not sure why, not sure where they were heading only that they were chasing something. He tore through the trees and undergrowth, the darkness not hindering him at all, he moved with ease following Severus as he slinked through the bushes and into a small clearing. Whatever they were chasing had stopped in the bush up ahead, terrified. _

_Avery burst through the trees and watched wide eyed as Severus crouched down to the floor his hands crossed pressed into the dirt beneath him, like some animal. His face was no longer soft and warm like it was just a moment ago, he looked wild almost feral. _

_Instincts were forcing through Avery but he was desperately trying to keep them back, trying to keep himself from doing what Severus was about to it, it was Severus' turn, it was Severus' time. _

_A low growl echoed through the trees and Avery was shocked to realise it was coming from his lover, He watched as Severus shifted forward, leaning on the balls of his feet, just one moment more and Severus launched himself through the bushes, a screech of pain, a cry of terror and a feral snarl matched with the sound of something being torn apart…. The acrid scent Avery was all too familiar with hung in the air... _

Avery woke with a start, bolt upright he was gasping for air, his skin was damp which he realised was Severus' sweat. His eyes were wide and his throat and stomach were burning painfully. He was shaking.

He glanced down to Severus' form, still sleeping peacefully a tiny smile curled in the corners of his lips. Avery breathed a sigh of relief. It was New Year's day, still dark outside and just a few short hours ago they had been making love.

He swallowed nervously, that horrible dry burn stinging and he winced. Slowly he climbed out of bed pulling something from just under his side of the mattress before he headed into the bathroom. He shut the door quietly and stalked over to the mirror gazing at his reflection. He looked normal but he was trembling.

Taking a deep breath Avery closed his eyes a moment trying to relax. That dream had freaked him out, he couldn't put his finger on it but he felt as though it meant something, like it was something that was going to happen, in the dream Severus had given birth, they were in the woods somewhere at night, it was familiar but frightening, good but unusual. Something strange was happening.

He opened the top of his little plain packet of pills, popping two in his mouth he swallowed them dry and stood perfectly still for a few moments, that painful burn slowly easing. He needed to go back to bed, he needed to rest and try to put this whole dream behind him.

He washed his hands and went back into the dormitory, Severus was awake and sitting upright frowning at him confusedly. Avery slipped under the covers shoving his pills discreetly under his pillow and smiling.

"Hey beautiful"

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah had a bad dream just needed to shake it off" Avery smiled, it wasn't a lie.

"Oww" Severus groaned snuggling up to Avery and cuddling him still half asleep. "Don't be scared I'm here to protect you" he breathed.

Avery smiled warmly, Severus was just so sweet. "Thanks lovely, go back to sleep you're pregnant, you need your rest"

"M'kay, love you" Severus said sleepily.

"Love you too" Avery breathed.

The next morning Avery was woken by a soft pair of lips on his own. He groaned his eyes fluttering open and smiled, Severus.

"Morning" Severus grinned.

"What time is it?" Avery yawned.

"Eleven" Severus blushed a little. "We slept late, well actually I've been awake a good twenty minutes or so now, you slept through, must have been tired"

"Yeah I was, your little arse must have tired me out last night" Avery winked playfully. He couldn't believe he'd slept for so long!

"Mm" Severus moaned. "I'm up for more of that any time"

"You are so sexy" Avery grinned. "I'm up for bloody anything dirty with you, you're amazing, so hormonal, in a good way"

"Wanna get some food?" Severus offered his dark eyes – normal eyes- were twinkling brightly.

"I'd love to babe" Avery smiled warmly, seeing Severus' eyes like this relaxed him drastically. After that dream last night he was still feeling a little shaken. It had upset him in some strange way, a little disturbed by it but he wasn't sure why.

They got up, pulled on some clothes and headed off to the great hall hand in hand. It was busy with students by the time they got there, everybody must have slept in really late like Severus and Avery did. They dropped into their seats and piled their plates, before they began eating.

For the rest of the day, Avery was feeling a little strange, that dream last night had worried him, really affected him he just couldn't shake that feeling it meant something, like something was coming, or going to happen.

"Are you okay?" Severus asked as they sat in front of the fire that evening just cuddled up close.

"Yeah, why?" Avery yawned.

"You've seemed kind of shifty today, if not a little too quiet" Severus' voice wavered slightly with concern. Avery turned to him and smiled.

"I just had a bad dream last night is all, shaken me up a bit, nothing to worry about though"

Severus' eyes widened a little but he seemed to relax by this statement. "Anything you want to talk about?"

"Nah it was silly, just one of those horrible realistic ones you know?"

Severus nodded and kissed him on the lips before resting his head on his shoulder and sighing contentedly.

"Do you want to go into Hogsmeade this weekend?" Avery offered hoping it might brighten Severus up.

"Maybe, if it's not too cold you know I hate the cold" Severus shuddered a little and shifted closer to his boyfriend.

"I know you do" Avery chuckled. "I'll make sure I keep you warm though"

"You're very sweet" Severus grinned.

"So are you, gorgeous, we'll see how much homework we get this week and make the decision on Friday evening, okay?"

Severus nodded quickly.

"Great" Avery breathed. They sat for some time in silence just enjoying each other's company, Avery looked down slowly his eyes grazing over Severus' soft skin, he was dozing off. "Come on let's go to bed now you're falling asleep" he spoke softly.

"I can't be bothered to move..." Severus groaned slouching further into Avery's frame.

Avery chuckled and with that he slipped his arms under Severus and lifting him swiftly up into his arms. A small squeak escaped Severus' throat as he grasped the front of his boyfriend's robes frightened he was going to be dropped.

"I'll be careful with you" Avery whispered as he carried him up the dormitory stairs and into their room. The other guys looked up and quirked their eyebrows exchanged weird looks when Avery came through carrying Severus bridal style over to the bed. He put Severus down on his feet and watching him slouch into the bathroom. He pulled on his pyjamas and watched Severus appear about two minutes later smelling strongly of soap and toothpaste before he stripped into his underwear and practically fell into bed.

Avery couldn't help but laugh. "Are you alright?"

"Just very tired today" Severus slurred a little his eyes were barely open, he looked adorable.

"Is the baby taking it out of you?"

"Yeah pretty much" Severus sighed snuggling down under the covers. "Sixteen week scan tomorrow" he breathed.

"And back to lessons" said Avery. "Sad about the lessons but I can't wait to see the baby" he said slipping beneath the covers beside Severus and curling up around him trying not to disturb his position.

"Yeah but at least it's something more to do, besides we have our exams in just a few months so when you think about it a year isn't much time to prepare for them" said Severus burying his face in the crook of his boyfriend's neck and stretching out lazily.

"True, I'm not overly worried for them though" said Avery.

"You never are"

"True" he chuckled. "Go to sleep now babe you must be exhausted" Avery breathed gently brushing the stray hairs from Severus' face and kissing him tenderly on the lips. "I love you"

"I love you too" Severus whispered.

The next morning came slowly and when Avery woke he was feeling much better than he had done yesterday, the dreams effects were seemingly much less to non-existent and either way he didn't care because he would get to see his little baby today in the scan moving around inside Severus. He smiled to himself, rolled onto his side and gently began to stroke his fingers over that little bump under the covers. Severus was definitely growing quite quickly now, his bump was quite visible through his clothes but he could still hide it with his cloak, he was looking so much brighter and fresher after all those weeks of ill feeling in the earlier stages of pregnancy. Now he looked nice and everything seemed to be going okay.

"Morning" Severus mumbled, it was so quiet and out of the blue it surprised Avery, those lovely dark eyes weren't even open yet.

"Morning, Severus" the taller boy blinked with surprise.

"Sixteen weeks, that's four months" Severus breathed his eyes slowly opening to gaze up into his lover's face.

"Today" Avery smiled. "I can't believe it, these four months have gone by so quickly"

"I know, five more to go though" said Severus.

"That will soon go, shall we get up so we can get down there on time?"

Severus nodded and yawned but didn't seem to be making any attempts to move soon.

Avery sat up and laughed watching the beginnings of a smile curl on Severus' face. "Still sleepy?"

"I'm always either sleepy, hungry or horny" said Severus with a happy little sigh. "Besides it's nice and warm under here"

"How about I heat your clothes, will that help?" Avery smirked.

"Much!" Severus grinned. He rolled onto his back and watched Avery dress himself quickly before pulling out Severus' clean clothes and cast a warming charm on everything even his tie.

"There" he said. "How about now?"

Severus chuckled and slipped out from under his covers, he stretched before gently massaging his baby bump and pulling on his clothes hugging them closer to his body and smiling with happiness. Avery came out of the bathroom looking much brighter and grinned at him.

"You look nice"

"Thanks, now my turn" Severus chuckled strolling into the bathroom for a wash.

Ten minutes later and they were heading off along the dungeon corridor and up the staircases towards the hospital wing hand in hand.

"Will?"

"Yes?" Avery smiled glancing down at Severus as they rounded on the last flight of marble staircases.

"Sometime soon can I sit on your cock?" Severus said casually.

"Of course" a spark ignited inside Avery, sex was amazing.

"Excellent" Severus smiled brightening up a bit more. They talked the rest of the journey until they finally arrived outside the hospital wing. They stopped outside the door staring at it.

"What's wrong?" Avery frowned confusedly, when he tried to tug Severus forward, he wouldn't budge.

"I'm nervous" Severus' voice was so quiet he barely heard him speak.

"Why?" Avery blinked frowning in confusion.

"What if the baby isn't okay? What if something is wrong or we see something we don't want to see or-" he was silenced by an outrageously soft pair of lips pressing so delicately against his own.

"Sev look at me"

He did.

"Nothing bad is going to happen to the baby, I'm sure he or she is perfectly fine inside of you so there's nothing to worry about, we won't know unless we go inside though" Avery spoke softly. "You've not had any problems so why should baby?"

Severus looked thoughtful a moment. "That's true..."

"Come on then let's get in there" Avery smiled.

Severus took a deep breath and nodded before they made their way into the hospital wing shutting the door behind them. They sauntered in a little further before Madame Pomfrey appeared with a smile on her face.

"Good morning, all set for your four month scan?" she asked brightly.

"Yeah a bit nervous" Severus smiled awkwardly.

"That's quite normal but I'm sure nothing will be work, still we must have a check to make sure everything is going well" she smiled. "If you'll just follow me" she beckoned leading the par of them through the white medical curtain at the back of the room and into their little scan area.

Severus sighed inwardly with nerves as he climbed up on the bed with the fluffed, propped pillows and lay back watching the nurse pull on some clean latex gloves.

"Could you expose your tummy for me please?" she asked gently without looking up.

Avery was at Severus' side in a moment, carefully pushing his cloak aside and lifting up his jumper he opened the front of his trousers and shirt exposing his baby bump. Madame Pomfrey turned round, her eyes resting on the bump and she smiled.

"You've known"

Severus felt himself grow hot. "Yeah, quite a bit since my last scan" he commented.

"It's so cute" Avery smiled as the nurse turned around and squeezed a dollop of gel onto his skin, Severus flinched with the cold as she smeared it around before pulling out her wand and tapping it three times on the top of the scanner. She reached over and picked up the scanner head holding it just above Severus' skin.

"Are you ready?" she asked brightly.

Severus reached his hand out and grasped Avery's nervously, gazing up into his boyfriend's face they exchanged brief smiles before he turned back to her, nodded and smiled. She brought the scanner down her eyes fixated on the screen as she shifted it around until that little gasp rang out as the baby appeared moving and flickering on the screen.

"There's your baby" said the nurse.

"Look at how big baby is now" Avery grinned.

"The baby is now just over four and a half inches in length, about the size of an Avocado" said Madame Pomfrey. "Within the next couple of weeks you should definitely be feeling your first movements or little kicks, they might come as a flutter or a proper sensation" she explained. "It purely depends on you"

"Is the baby okay?" Severus asked quickly.

"Yes everything looks perfectly normal, baby is growing well, very healthy..." she reached over and flipped a switch on the side of the machine and the whirring of the heart beat filled their ears. Severus gasped again his dark eyes widening with shock.

"The heart sounds perfectly normal" she said with a smile. "I can't find a thing wrong, baby looks very well" she smiled.

"That's a massive relief" Severus breathed.

"Would you like to me have a little look and see if I can tell what the sex is?" she asked calmly.

Severus' heart skipped a beat. "I don't know if I want to know just yet" he said quietly.

"I do" Avery beamed excitedly.

"I thought I had to be eighteen weeks" Severus blinked, confused.

"Well yes but I am confident if the legs are open wide enough we can tell, the genitals will be fully developed but I will still scan you in two weeks to make sure it's correct, it would be interesting to see" said Madame Pomfrey.

Severus looked up into Avery's face. "She could just tell you if you want to know, I'd like to wait" he said. "Just to be sure it's the right gender"

"In that case I think I'll wait too" said Avery.

"I can always check it anyway and if the genitals are very clear I can tell you, if I am slightly unsure I won't" she smiled.

"Well... okay then" Severus smiled.

They watched as the nurse shifted the scanner around underneath the baby. She stared at it, neither Severus nor Avery could understand much until it was moved better into focus. The nurse smiled.

"Are you ready?" she smiled.

Avery and Severus squeezed hands and grinned to one another before nodding.

"I'm nearly a hundred percent certain it's a boy" she smiled.

Avery threw his arms around Severus kissing his face softly. "It's a boy!" he beamed excitedly. "A boy!"

"I can see in there quite clearly" she said nodding to the screen. The two boys separated to get a better look at it. "You see the position between his legs, the little igloo shape?"

"Yes" they said.

"That's called the turtle position, thankfully we have good technology in the Wizarding world and when one looks for the genitals they look for the turtle position to determine whether or not it is a boy, sometimes the baby does not cooperate but this little one has got his legs wide open" she chuckled.

"Will you check again in two weeks?" Avery asked hopefully.

"I will indeed, just a quick scan in between because you'll be having another one at twenty weeks which is five months pregnant just to make sure the baby is growing properly still and there aren't any other problems" she said letting them have one last look at the baby before replacing the scanner and setting some pictures to print off for them.

Avery pulled out a tissue and helped to clean Severus up and replace his clothes.

"Is there anything you want to talk about, any concerns?" the nurse looked between them. "Either of you?"

They shook their heads.

"Very well" she replied picking up the photos and giving them two each. "I'll send you a letter when it's time for your next appointment with me, I'll give you the date for the five month scan while I'm at it, any questions, concerns or problems come straight to me other than that I will see both of you very soon" she smiled.

"Thanks very much" Avery grinned.

"We really appreciate it" Severus smiled.

"Don't mention it"

They left the hospital wing hand in hand and as soon as they were outside, Avery gathered Severus up in his arms and twirled him around grinning excitedly.

"Be careful I get dizzy easily and it makes me throw up" Severus squeaked.

Avery quickly and carefully put the boy in his feet holding him close trying to steady him. "I'm sorry but I'm just so excited"

"So am I, I can't believe we're having a boy" Severus breathed. "Now we can call the baby a he instead of it" he chuckled.

"He is going to be gorgeous I know it" Avery sighed happily. "I'm so happy he's okay though"

"Me too, I was shitting bricks for a while there" Severus breathed.

"See, I told you everything would be fine" Avery grinned proudly.

"I know maybe I should listen to you better when you say things like that" said Severus.

"You definitely should babe" Avery winked. "Now let's get some food in you" he added with a grin. "You two must be hungry"

"Mm definitely" Severus breathed.

They headed down the staircases hand in hand waiting occasionally as they shifted and changed places and ignoring the odd few people staring at them as they passed.

"The girls really seem to like you don't they?" Severus commented as they strolled casually into the great hall.

"I guess" Avery yawned.

"More so than last year, well, even more so" said Severus.

"What makes you say that?" Avery frowned dropping into his seat beside Severus without meeting his eye.

"You've gotten more handsome than you were last year, you were hot and very good looking last summer before the holiday's but this year you seem to have really grown up, you look amazing now" Severus blushed a bit watching the smile curl in the corners of Avery's mouth.

"Puberty I guess" the boy chuckled. "Does wonders"

"Yeah so why can't it do wonders for me?" Severus said sadly.

"You look fine, Severus" Avery smiled leaning over and kissing him softly on the lips. "I like you just the way you are"

"I don't" Severus laughed weakly. "I like the way you look and... can I tell you a secret?" his voice dropped low so nobody else could overhear their conversation. Avery stared at him a moment his very warm brown eyes widening with surprise but he nodded curiously.

"Of course, you know you can tell me anything" he breathed shifting a little closer.

"I'd give almost anything to look like you" Severus said quietly turning his face away from his boyfriend.

"Severus you're beautiful the way you are" Avery sighed. "You're lovely and even if you don't think so, I think so" he smiled. "You're gorgeous ad if I thought you were hideous I wouldn't be with you or be able to get so aroused by you"

"Yeah but when people see us they know you're the good looking one, you're beautiful and just so everything, you're the ideal boyfriend and I'm so lucky to have you but they look at you like they're admiring you or adoring you and they look at me like I'm filth and scum" said Severus awkwardly, he wasn't good at voicing things like this but he wanted to let Avery know how he felt.

"Severus, you are gorgeous and if anyone doesn't see that they're stupid, don't feel so insecure because of a bunch of bitchy girls, you have something none of them have" Avery smiled warmly.

"A penis?"

"Yes but you also have a lot of personality, you don't ogle or drool over me all the time, you don't giggle and pass notes to your friends about how sexy I am or what I'm doing and believe me I've read some of the notes they've sent that have accidentally blown off course and you'd be surprised what has been written in some of them about me" he said his eyebrows raising with emphasis making Severus laugh. "You're fine the way you are"

"Okay but can I ask you something?"

"Anything" said Avery.

"What happened this summer that you changed so much, your skin is just amazing and your hair and your eyes are even prettier than before" Severus asked pursing his lips together his brows knitted together in a slight frown trying to understand how Avery did this, had he used one of those beautifications spells? Severus had read about those out of curiosity a few times and they could go HORRIBLY wrong if used by someone who wasn't a Professional or had good knowledge of them, or a potion? No that would have worn off by now.

Avery looked very confused. "I don't know what you're talking about" he said quietly.

"Like just the way you look" Severus said wetting his lips with the tip of his tongue.

"I guess it's my age" said Avery. "Sirius Black has improved a few times, not that I'm looking, must just be hormones or something I guess everybody goes through it, you've changed yourself"

"I'm pregnant" said Severus.

"Never mind" Avery smiled. "Let's just eat" he said.

The conversation ended there and they piled their plates with food and tucked in. The other's arrived a few moments later and sat down grinning excitedly.

"So" said Mulciber. "How did the baby scan go?"

Severus and Avery looked to one another and smiled lovingly.

"Amazing" Severus smiled his eye twinkling with happiness.

"Ah baby is okay then?" Evan asked happily sinking his teeth into some toast.

"Yeah the baby is" Severus grinned up to Avery. "Shall we tell them?" he asked quietly.

Avery's face broke into a warm smile. "Yes" he breathed.

Severus turned back around, clasping Avery's hand in his own he beamed up at him.

"It's a boy" said Avery.

All of their eyebrows disappeared in their hairlines, some mouths hung open and others were just grinning.

"Wow, really?" Regulus sounded unusually bright. Avery nodded proudly and wrapped an arm around Severus' lower back.

"Yup, we have another scan in two weeks just to be double sure it's a boy but Madame Pomfrey was certain he is" he explained. "I'm really happy"

"Didn't want a girl then?" Evan chuckled.

"Oh no if he was a girl I'd be just as happy, I'd love him no matter what gender he is it just makes everything that much more exciting now we know what he is" Avery explained. "I'm really proud of Severus too, just for carrying him and keeping him safe"

Mulciber gave Avery a strange look but Severus ignored it, he knew why he was doing it, he knew Mulciber was still edgy about their blood status' but Severus was going to ignore it, just for the sake of peace.

"How about you, Snape?" it was Wilkes. "Pleased you're having a boy?"

Severus nodded quickly. "Yeah I didn't mind as long as he or she was healthy, I wasn't gonna let Pomfrey tell me until she assured me she wouldn't unless it was clear" he explained. "I wanted it to be a slight surprise" he added with a chuckle.

"We'll have to start buying colour coordinated things in a couple of weeks" said Avery. "Lots of blues and such"

"What are you going to name him?" Mulciber asked curiously.

"Not a clue" Severus laughed.

"Yeah give us a chance to think of names we've only just found out what we're having a few minutes ago" Avery smirked nibbling lightly on his apple.

"You're getting bigger though, Snape" Regulus nodded down at Severus' tummy he could see showing through the front of his school jumper. Apparently a few people overheard and were craning their necks and whispering as they tried to see for themselves what Severus was like now.

Severus sent his usual vicious glares around warning people before he continued on with his breakfast. Avery couldn't help but laugh at this gesture.

After they finished eating the crowd of Slytherin's headed off to Divination, Severus was looking forward to this lesson not because he enjoyed it, in fact, he thought the whole subject needed work done on it, there were no clear boundaries, no right or wrong answers and it was pretty much all guess work which he didn't like, he was very sceptical of the teacher as well but at least the room was warm and comfy and he would probably get to sleep for half the lesson anyway, and he would be able to sit and chat with his boyfriend throughout so that was always fun.

"I love you" Avery smiled as they headed up the marble staircases. This took Severus completely off guard, but that didn't mean it was a bad thing.

His face spread into a beaming grin. "I love you too" he said. "That was a little unexpected"

"In a good or bad way?"

"A good one" Severus nodded.

They headed right up into their Divination classroom, they sat by the closed windows the warmth from the fire radiating throughout the heavily scented room giving it a very thick, rich aroma but also making it unbearably tiring to be inside.

"Hey are you okay?" Avery asked sitting perched in the armchair just across the little rounded table before him with his face washed with concern.

"I'm fine just sleepy" Severus' mouth folded into a tiny O shape as he yawned. "Don't look so worried"

"You know I get concerned about you, especially now in your condition, anything could be wrong" Avery said quietly.

"Err look at that thing" James Potter's voice made both of their heads turn. He moved to drop into a seat at the table just behind Severus. Avery tensed up but Severus shook his head slowly.

"Don't react to them or they will do it more" he said. "The teacher is here she won't let them do anything" Severus said quietly.

Avery's eyes wandered past Severus to where he could hear the four of them talking quietly.

"I'll bet he's not even pregnant" Sirius said coldly.

"No apparently people have seen the scan photos and he's got a bump" said James clutching the edges of the table excitedly.

"How could he possibly be pregnant anyway?" Peter jumped in.

"He took some kind of potion and slept with Avery, don't you ever listen, Peter?" Remus said rolling his eyes.

"What?" Sirius blinked, confused.

"It gave him some extra hole or something, you can't have a baby out your arse, Sirius..." said Remus quirking an eyebrow.

"Well I know that, doesn't take a genius to understand sex and babies" Sirius laughed. "What I don't get is why they're being so creepy about it, it's like they're hiding something"

"Oh Padfoot calm down, you're jealous because a group of girls saw them kissing and said it was hot" James smirked.

"I don't even date the girls!" Sirius protested. "Got a free-lance image to keep up" he sniffed proudly.

"Yeah, the unobtainable one only turns them on more" James winked.

"They all think you're a bad boy anyway, Sirius" said Remus rolling his eyes again. "But that's not what we were talking about here"

"Remus is right, how the fuck is Snape going to have a baby? I wonder if this has got something to do with you know who, he's a creepy little bastard the lot of them are and we all know they're going to be on their knees before him one day bowing to his every command like filthy little slaves" James spat smirking over his shoulder knowing the two boys could hear them.

Severus shook his head very slowly keeping his eyes focused on Avery's face, now wasn't the time to start kicking off about things. Avery squirmed in his seat with agitation and Severus knew he was desperate to start fighting with someone.

"Come on now they're fourteen years old, I hardly think they are going to be chasing him about the place just yet" Remus chuckled. "You're just blowing this way out of proportion"

"Why did they even keep the kid anyway?" Peter asked wrinkling his nose with disgust, his watery blue eyes hovering over Severus' back as the boy pulled out his text book and began flipping through it, the teachers voice echoed through the air but by now she was completely away with it and raving on about some force but Severus wasn't really listening enough to care he preferred to do his work for this subject outside of class where he could study it properly.

"Attention?" said Sirius.

"Just to keep Avery by his side, I might be straight but I'm not blind he's not exactly hideous is he? The girls all like him even if they're frightened of him and I don't blame them, guy's got a screw loose" James said twirling his index finger at the side of his head.

Severus quickly reached across the small table and took Avery's hand in his own holding it and gently brushing his thumb over the back of it trying to keep him calm, he could see it in those lovely eyes that the boy was really starting to lose his temper and didn't want him to cause a troublesome outburst in the classroom, they were provoking him and Severus would make damn sure they didn't get the response they were after.

"I wonder how far pregnant he is" Sirius mused.

Severus smirked to himself, leaned back and said "Sixteen weeks so I'm four months today" without even looking at them.

The four of them looked rather surprised (even though only Avery could see them) Severus sat smirking with triumph when it put an end to their conversation right then and there.

"That reminds me" Severus said quietly. "I think soon I might need to get some of that cream to stop stretch marks"

"Planning on doing a lot of growing?" Avery smiled warmly.

Severus just laughed. "Yeah, I read in my book before five months is when sometimes some people experience the first tiny ones happening and to be honest I know it sounds vain as hell but I don't want big red or white lines all over me that really isn't going to help anyway" he said.

"Tell you what, I'll buy some for you, my treat" Avery grinned.

"Oh no I wasn't asking you to I was just saying-"

Avery shook his head and smiled. "Really, I'll get you some, whatever you need just leave it to me I can afford it"

Severus didn't like taking hand outs but from Avery it wasn't technically a hand out if it was his boyfriend and he was buying a present, was it? He just smiled and nodded once. "Thanks then"

"My pleasure gorgeous" Avery winked playfully.

By the time lunch arrived Severus was feeling quite hungry, he dropped into his seat and piled his plate high with a bit of pretty much everything.

"Feeling better?" Avery smirked watching him tuck into a slice of pizza topped with shepherd's pie.

"I feel excellent" Severus smiled, all day he had been given some strange looks from pretty much everybody, they all knew about the baby of course and were still speculating, the fact Severus was growing and showing only fuelled their gossip more.

"I'm really glad you managed to hold fire this morning in Divination, didn't really want to see a brutal hexing match on the first day back to be honest" Severus chuckled softly.

"I did it for you because I knew it would upset you" Avery said.

Severus' face split into a warm smile. "I love you"

"I love you too" Avery grinned.

Three days went by of pretty much the same thing, none of the gossiping had eased off and people everywhere would stare at Severus' stomach not caring if he saw them then turn to their friends and start whispering about it. It was more tiring than annoying and several times Severus would yank his cloak closed around him to cover his baby bump just so they couldn't see it very well.

"I'm getting tired of all the staring" Severus sighed as he pulled on his pyjamas Thursday evening.

"They're curious, but I guess it'll only get worse from now on" said Avery. "Imagine when you're big and people stare"

"Imagine after I've given birth..." said Severus.

"Well once he's in your arms you probably won't give a damn about what anyone else thinks" Avery chuckled.

"True" Severus smiled. They slipped beneath the bed covers sighing with content. "I love you"

"I love you too, so much" Avery breathed leaning in and pressing his lips to Severus'. It wasn't long before they were both fast asleep wrapped in each other's arms.

The next afternoon they were thankful when the lessons came to an end, they went up to the library to do some homework before dinner and were sitting at the back mostly kissing to be honest rather than doing any work.

"We should really get on and get these inches written" Severus smirked against his boyfriend's mouth, he didn't want to have to stop kissing Avery but he really needed to get his homework done.

"Mm do we have to stop this?" Avery quirked a fine eyebrow.

Severus gave a tiny chuckle against his lips. "I'd rather not but we can't write while we kiss"

"I know but kissing is more fun" Avery pouted slightly when their lips parted but were still close enough to be brushing one another.

"That's very true" Severus smiled. "How about we write these and go back to the dormitory early for a private make out session?"

"Hmm well that is an offer I just cannot refuse" Avery grinned bringing their lips together one last time before they turned their attention sadly on their work.

It took an hour and a half, they had dinner and headed back to the dormitory early passing off their friends suggestions to hang out in the common room for a while. As soon as they were in the dormitory, Severus pulled his lover into the bathroom and set the bath filling.

"I thought a cuddle in a nice soapy bath would be the perfect end to a tiring first week back" he smiled.

Avery looked a little surprised but grinned none the less. "You really do have some amazing ideas"

Once the bath was ready the boys stripped down and slipped beneath the warm water, Avery insisted upon helping Severus down into it and gently wrapped his arms around his middle pulling him close when they were deep in the water.

"This is very relaxing" Severus smiled.

"I know" said Avery nuzzling the side of his boyfriend's face. "Once we're done in here we can get dried, put some fresh pyjamas on and get into bed and make out all night long" he sighed happily.

"Sounds like perfection to me" Severus smiled warmly.

"Mm know what I like doing?"

Severus shook his head rather curiously.

"Washing your hair" Avery smiled. "Come on, sit down and let me do it" he said swiftly moving to the edge of the pool where a ledge sat submerged in the water. Severus smiled and followed him over turning to sit on it with his back to his boyfriend, he closed his eyes, tilted his head back and sighed when he felt water pouring through his long dark hair.

Avery set to work massaging the shampoo through his lover's hair before rinsing it out thoroughly and combing his fingers through it. "You have nice hair"

"Thanks" Severus said softly.

Avery leaned in brushing the wet hair aside and pressed his lips tenderly to the back of Severus' pale neck deeply inhaling his lovely warm scent. "Sometime soon, this weekend perhaps or maybe next week I want to bed you" he whispered huskily.

A shiver ran down Severus' spine and he convulsed with delight. "I want it too" he breathed.

After they'd finished they got out, dried, Avery dried their hair quickly before they slipped beneath the crisp bedding and he pulled Severus into his arms, without hesitation he kissed him straight on the lips pushing the smaller boy's mouth open his tongue slipping inside almost straight away. He moaned softly pulling Severus closer, this felt completely right.

By the time the next morning came the boys were up and ready heading off into Hogsmeade early, they'd been given a good homework load and were planning to come back early and finish it off in the library that afternoon, maybe they would be back at the castle by lunch time instead of catching a late carriage up.

"How are you feeling this morning then?" Avery asked as they clambered into a carriage making themselves comfortable for the trek to the village.

"I feel pretty good, a little tired and just the usual pregnancy stuff with the emotions and a few little aches but I read in my book that's normal because my pelvis and muscles are loosening and changing to support the baby, can't complain though" said Severus.

"Well if it starts bothering you let me know and we can sit down or come back" Avery smiled.

"You're way too good to me" Severus chuckled as the carriage finally started to move.

By the time they arrived in Hogsmeade they were eagerly anticipating the day ahead of them. It was still early January and two days until Severus' birthday. The snow still littered the ground and the air was very chilly although the sun was glinting through the heavy snow clouds. First they stopped for a quick Butterbeer before making their way out into the street and turning down the back towards the robe shop.

"I need some more trousers" Severus sighed as they strolled along the cobbled street the snow crunching beneath their feet. "Everything I put on just feels like it's shrinking"

"Because you're pregnant" said Avery. "You're going to keep getting bigger" he chuckled as they headed inside the warm shop. They didn't speak to the cashier but made straight for the Muggle clothing section where they selected two pairs of trousers, some t-shirts and a new school shirt. With everything loaded into a handled paper bag they headed out into the cold street once again.

"Oi, Snape!"

The two boys turned around coming face to face with the ever grinning James Potter and his irritating posse of idiot friends.

"What do you want?" Avery said coldly as they approached, he felt Severus inch slightly closer to him but the gesture wouldn't be noticed by the four other boys.

"What were you doing in there, Snape?" Sirius smirked nodding towards the shop.

"Buying clothes?" Severus said flatly quirking an eyebrow with hinted sarcasm. "What else would I be doing in a clothes shop?"

"When it comes to you we can't always be too sure" James chuckled crossing his arms over his chest. "What's the matter, too fat to fit into normal clothes now?" A flicker ran across Severus' face, James noticed it his hazel eyes flashing with excitement as his face morphed into a sneer. "Touched a nerve there, did I?"

Severus just continued to glower at him but said nothing.

"Leave him alone you know he isn't fat you imbecile" Avery growled.

"No but he's knocked up and that's even worse" said Sirius. Severus snatched at his boyfriend's arm warning him not to go for them, he could feel the anger radiating off of Avery and he was ever so slightly rocking on the balls of his feet as though he were about to savage the lot of them.

"Yeah, he's a right little bitch" Peter said nastily. "Must feel pretty rotten to have your masculinity stripped away from you like that" he smirked. Severus felt anger rising in his chest, he could see Lupin standing behind them shaking his head with disapproval but as usual didn't even attempt to stop them.

"Severus is more of a man than you will ever be you little weasel" Avery said coldly glowering down at the smaller plump boy. He watched as Peter shrank back a little with fear and allowed a triumphant smirk to cross his face.

"He's a knocked up little fourteen year old faggot that doesn't even bother to fight back, little runt doesn't even have a spine" James smirked nastily.

"You watch your damn mouth" Avery spat venomously. "He's done nothing wrong to you, what's your problem, jealous or just obsessed?"

"You wish" James rolled his eyes behind his round glasses.

"No I'm serious, you've obviously got some weird obsession with my boyfriend if you really can't leave him alone, get some help it's not normal to stalk people" Avery said a mild look of disgust on his face as his eyes roamed from one boy to the other.

"And what are you then? Some little Death Eater moron? What an idiot, you're both going to be little slaves in a few short years and when you do we'll be the ones bringing you down because Gryffindor always triumphs over Slytherin" James said coldly.

"No, I feel sorry for you, Potter" Severus snapped. "You'll never have what we've got"

"What's that? A gay relationship, a bitch arse and being knocked up at fourteen? You're right Snape, none of us will ever have anything that embarrassing" James laughed.

"No you'll never have anybody to love you and you'll never have a family of your own" Severus said nastily. "You're a very dislikeable person, I don't give a damn if you're a Gryffindor and silly little dunderheads follow you about drooling all over the image you portray, they will soon realise what you really are when you show your true colours"

"Well said, Severus" Avery smiled.

James took a step forward his hands balled into fists, Avery quickly moved in front of Severus blocking his path.

"Don't you DARE lay a finger on Severus because if you even try I will break your spine, do you understand me?" he snarled savagely.

"I'm not low like you are, I might hate Snivellus but I still wouldn't touch a pregnant person, the kid aint done anything wrong, just him" James spat. "He makes me sick, everything he does is disgusting and I pity him for it" he said nastily.

"Well I pity you and your sad life, Potter you must feel really alone to wake up wanting to make someone else's life a misery every day just to compensate for how shitty your own is" Avery said. "Severus is a lovely person and he's got a lot going for him, far more than you will ever have so grow up and get a life"

"Don't speak to me like that, who the hell do you think you are?" James snarled.

"We're warning you mate, step the fuck off" Sirius growled swaggering up to James' side his hand hovering over his pocket, Avery could just tell he was thinking about pulling his wand out and hexing him. Peter hurried over and stood just behind them out of harm's way, Remus didn't move.

"I'd watch that mouth if I were you, there's more of us than there are of you so you might want to back off a bit" James smirked acknowledging his back up. Much to his surprise Avery tilted his head to one side and let out a soft chuckle.

"You really think you can intimidate me? Ha! I think not"

"Four of us and one of you" Sirius smirked.

"I'm not getting involved in this!" Remus protested.

"Smart words" Avery chuckled. "Maybe you should listen to Lupin a bit more often, he seems to have the correct approach" he said coolly.

James and Sirius sort of gave a sideways glance towards Remus or the briefest of moments before shrugging and rounding on Avery.

"Someone needs to teach you how to respect you superior's" Sirius spat viciously his grey eyes narrowing. Severus closed his eyes behind his boyfriend, he knew if they attacked Avery and ganged up on him he couldn't do anything because of the baby.

"Oh really? Someone needs to teach you some manners" Avery chuckled. "You can walk away now though because I'm growing extremely bored with your pathetic little attempts to insult me, you're nothing but a pair of sad little boys"

And that's when it happened, James and Sirius launched themselves at Avery. A tiny noise of shock escaped Severus' lips and he stepped back his dark eyes wide with panic, but that's when he realised what was happening.

Avery swung his arm back battering James to the floor, he crashed hard into the freezing snow several feet away clutching his ribs gasping in pain. The Slytherin lashed out a second time grabbing Sirius by the front of his robes he slammed him hard into the wall to their left pinning him above the ground so his toes were scraping the floor, he turned to glare at Peter who shrank back to a stunned looking Remus. Sirius struggled hard against Avery's grip but couldn't budge him at all.

Avery's lips curled into a smirk and he laughed. "If you think I was just going to let you humiliate me then think again" his head turned sharply to where James was struggling to his feet.

Remus and Severus stood with their mouths hanging open and their eyes wide with shock. Avery bared his teeth just a fraction as his smirk widened and he suddenly turned throwing Sirius roughly into two black plastic bins sitting by the wall, the boy tumbled and fell amongst them huffing angrily as Avery flung himself at James slamming the boy to the ground again before he swung his arm back and knocked Peter flying with complete ease. He straightened himself up triumphantly dusting off his clothes and taking a few steps back towards Severus eyeing his work with the utmost respect. "Now, who else wants to try something again?"

"You behave like a Muggle fighting with your fists instead of a wand" James hissed but made no attempt to get to his feet. "You have no talent for magic!"

Avery threw his head back and laughed draping an arm around Severus' waist. "If you think that bothers me try again, as for that good day to you all" he smirked leading Severus away from the group of baffled, angry Gryffindor's. "Hey Sev?"

"Mm?"

"I believe that's Slytherin one, Gryffindor zero" he chuckled.

Severus grinned up at him allowing himself to be walked off down the street as far away from them as possible, he couldn't help but feel pride towards Avery for what he had just done.

By the time they made it back to the castle they were just in time for lunch, they ate their shepherd's pie quickly before heading up to the library with their things and setting to work in their usual back corner.

"Have you started on your dream diary for Divination yet?" Severus asked curiously watching Avery pull out a spare empty notebook.

"No I think I probably should though" he said. "You?"

"Nu uh, gonna do it now" said Severus. "I feel kind of embarrassed writing down my dreams in a diary for the teacher to read though..."

"Why?"

"Because it's sort of personal and they're out of my control" Severus chuckled. "Seems quite silly as well from my point of view, who wants to try and interpret shit from dreams"

"Well you can sometimes remember things in dreams, or stuff you really like happens, something you've wanted you figure out how to do or where to get it from and such, I don't know, I don't dream much anymore" Avery sighed stretching his arms up above his head his black and gold pheasant quill still in his hand.

"You don't dream much?" Severus frowned.

"I do sometimes but it's mostly just nothing though, loads of people get it" said Avery.

"Fair enough" Severus yawned. "I can't get enough sleep at the moment"

"Because you're expecting" Avery smiled gently resting a hand on Severus' baby bump. "When he arrives he is going to be so cute I can just tell"

"With a dad like you how could he not?" Severus chuckled.

"Mm let's see what you've written" Avery smirked leaning over to read the first few lines of Severus' dream diary. "Dreaming about me, eh?" he chuckled.

"Just that we were cuddling" said Severus. "Guess it was kind of a realistic one" he smiled.

Avery smiled back, the memories of that dream on New Year's day came flooding back, that was extremely realistic but it couldn't possibly have been. Should he write that in the diary? No, probably better to leave something like that out, it was too frightening. He held back a shudder and scribbled something meaningless down in his own, he'd probably just had too much Butterbeer that night that or sex made him loopy.

They sat until dinner time finishing all their homework, by the time it was done they were exhausted and ready to eat. Making their way downstairs they spotted the four Marauders looking ruffled and glum heading back into the castle after their day in the village, Severus smirked inwardly, he had a feeling they wouldn't be bothering him for a while.

Several days flew by in a blur and Tuesday arrived, the second day into his seventeenth week of pregnancy. Seemingly a little bigger and much brighter, Severus sat with Avery in potions that morning writing their essay's in peace.

"How about at lunch we eat quickly and go back to the dormitory for some private time?" Severus murmured.

Avery's eyes widened and his face spread into an excitable grin. "I look forward to it"

They sat chatting as they continued to write, Severus as usual was writing everything in thorough detail and description, his writing cursive and tiny against the parchment.

"Hey guys, are either of you up for coming to that party in the common room on Friday night?" Mulciber asked in a hushed tone. They turned around to face him staring confusedly into his pale eyes.

"Party?" Avery blinked.

"Yeah whole Slytherin house can go" said Mulciber. "Gonna be fun, you up for it?"

The two boys exchanged looks.

"We'll see, Friday is kind of the day we relax and take a really long bath together" said Avery. "Severus is really tired on a Friday"

Mulciber sighed impatiently and rolled his eyes. "Take a nap beforehand then and come down, apparently there's two sixth year girls who might be willing to take their tops off" he grinned excitedly.

"You and breasts" Severus sighed rolling his eyes.

"You and cocks" Mulciber smirked back.

"Correction, a cock" said Severus briefly gesturing towards his boyfriend's crotch. "But we'll see, we might come down for a bit but any lady strippers and we're out, okay?"

"Sure" Mulciber chuckled and turned back to continue talking about breasts with Evan. The two boys rolled their eyes and turned back around.

By the end of the morning's lessons both boys were feeling incredibly bored. They had lunch quickly and true to their word went straight back to the dormitory for a little private time. They cleaned their hands and as soon as they were out of the bathroom, Severus threw himself at Avery kissing him hungrily on the mouth.

"Someone's horny" Avery moaned wrapping his arms snugly around Severus' waist as the boy pushed himself up higher to kiss Avery more passionately.

"I love you and I'm horny" Severus breathed. "I'd really like some pleasure..." his cheeks grew hot from just admitting it but it seemed to turn Avery on, the boy moaned softly guiding Severus towards the bed he pressed him down and climbed on top of him. They kicked off their shoes and in a matter of moments Severus' cloak was thrust to the floor along with his tie, jumper and shirt. He was in the process of tearing Avery's clothes off when he gasped feeling a soft pair of lips teasing at an unprotected nipple tugging it playfully making it harden so very quickly.

Severus moaned loudly thrusting Avery's shirt aside and burying his fingers in his lover's hair gasping as he felt a tongue flicker across the sensitive little mound again.

"You like that don't you?" Avery smirked.

"I like everything you do to me" Severus purred sliding his leg up Avery's thigh.

"Mm like when I kiss you?" Avery smirked.

"Yes" Severus hissed as Avery tweaked at both of his nipples at the same time.

"When I touch you, all over, every secret part of your body?" Avery whispered kissing his way down Severus' torso bumping over his tummy.

Severus moaned softly his breathing growing heavier with pleasure.

"When I suck you and kiss all of your intimate places?" Avery purred tugging Severus' trousers down and throwing them aside earning a loud groan. "And like when I fuck you, hard and deep and make you scream my name" he whispered into his lover's ear.

Severus shuddered and moaned so loudly it surprised Avery, his toes were curling at the end of the bed as he snatched the bottle of lubricant from the bedside table. "Just fuck me right now before I explode" he moaned desperately.

"As you wish, beautiful" Avery grinned. He pulled off Severus' and his own underwear, propping up the boys legs so his feet were flat on the bed he squeezed a dollop of lubricant onto his hand and stroked it through his fingers before carefully reaching out and massaging it around Severus' tight little anus earning a soft whimper as Severus writhed under his touch. "You're really wild for it today aren't you, Severus?"

"I'm wild for you in bed all the time" Severus breathed, he gasped as Avery slipped two fingers straight in as far as they could go into his hole. He lifted his legs up so his feet were hovering allowing Avery to thrust them inside rhythmically.

"I want to have sex so bad" Severus panted as Avery inserted a third finger.

Avery continued for a few more thrusts before withdrawing his fingers and simply coating his own erection thickly in the lubricant, he replaced the cap and shoved it back on the bedside table before clambering over his boyfriend resting the head of his enormous throbbing member against his tiny anus.

"Are you ready?" Avery breathed?

"I'm always ready to get fucked" Severus moaned softly.

Avery chuckled and slowly he pushed his erection into his lover's entrance. Severus gasped and tensed a little at the intrusion but continued to moan softly with pleasure.

"You like that?"

"Fucking love it" Severus hissed spreading his legs further. "More!"

Avery groaned with pleasure and pushed his erection in to just over halfway holding still for a good few moments allowing Severus to get used to it before he began to thrust roughly inside his boyfriend's body.

"Oh god, oh god, oh fuck, oh Avery!" Severus whimpered clutching the sheets in his tightly balled fists, he lifted his legs up into the air giving his boyfriend better access to his depths, he moaned loudly feeling Avery slide deeper into his body brushing against his prostate earning an extra gasp of delight.

"Severus" Avery moaned desperately thrusting harder and faster into his lover's body. "You're incredible!" he whimpered.

"So is your cock" Severus gasped.

The air was filled with their loud gasps and moans, the sound of the headboard bouncing off the wall was only spurring Severus and Avery on louder, Avery moaned loudly with each deep thrust, the tight heat around his erection was becoming difficult to bear, he could feel that familiar rush and the pooling sensation of his orgasm building rapidly.

"Right there, right there, keep going, keep doing it..." Severus whimpered desperately clutching at Avery's shoulders. With one deep thrust he was seated balls deep inside his lover and with a squeak of surprise from Severus, Avery grasped his bottom pulling his cheeks apart before he began to furiously pound into his anus.

Severus was gasping, moaning and almost shrieking with pleasure. Avery was shaking all over, Severus' name being shouted repeatedly from his lips as he thrust ferociously against his boyfriend's prostate.

"I'm gonna cum!" Avery yelled throwing his head up to gaze down into his lover's flushed face and swirling passion filled eyes.

"Me too" Severus panted arching his back off of the bed.

One, two, three thrusts later and Avery came with a scream "SEVERUS!" as he came so hard and fast Severus was sobbing feeling himself filling to the brim so much so Avery's cum was leaking from his tight abused hole before he had even pulled out.

Seconds later and Severus went over the edge arching his back off of the bed he cried out Avery's name desperately as he exploded all over his own stomach spraying some onto his lover' as well.

It was a few minutes before Avery withdrew and collapsed beside Severus looking dazed and very happy. Severus was grinning as he turned his head to gaze into Avery's eyes.

"That was amazing" he breathed.

"It most definitely was!" Avery beamed his eyes slightly out of focus. "You're amazing in bed"

"So are you" Severus grinned. "I want to have loads more sex with you" he sighed happily snuggling into his boyfriend's body.

"Oh and believe me, Severus, I want to have as much sex with you as possible" Avery grinned. "Oh and next time we do it I want to bottom, if that's alright?" he asked hopefully a certain shyness flickered through his pretty warm brown eyes.

"Course" Severus smiled. "I'm a little nervous but it really want to try to top you"

"Mm well we'll have to make sure that happens" Avery winked playfully.

For the rest of the day they were both glowing with pleasure, even their friends and other people had noticed how happy they were. Some of them put it down to pregnancy, others had heard about what Avery did last Saturday and suspected it may be pride for that, but it was fairly obvious to people who actually knew them what they had been doing.

By the time Friday came around they were a mixture of tired and happy. Another week was nearly over and on Monday Severus would be having his eighteen week confirmation scan of the baby's gender and neither of them could wait a second longer for it.

They had dinner that evening making small talk with people at the table, ignoring the stares especially when Severus sat stroking his bump as he ate (which seemed to have grown a fraction more within the past three days). After food they changed out of their school robes and headed down into the common room when they could hear the thump of the music below the dormitories.

"We don't have to stay long if you aren't feeling up to it" Avery smiled taking Severus' hand and leaving their dorm.

"I feel okay just a little tired, it's been a long week" said Severus. "Maybe we can come back and have one of our lovely bath's later on?" he asked hopefully.

"Definitely" Avery grinned. "How about a massage as well?"

"You know me too well" Severus laughed as they appeared in the loud common room. Almost the whole house were in the large dungeon room, the sofa, chairs and even floor were mostly occupied by people sitting playing games, chatting, flirting and messing around with one another. Towards the back they could see Mulciber and Evan flirting with a group of girls who were twisting their long hair and giggling at them excitedly.

"Someone might get laid tonight" Avery laughed.

"Probably not to be honest" said Severus. "You know what they're like" he chuckled with a wink. Mulciber had a tendency to take things just a little bit too far at times and was excellent at putting girls' off by being too forward with them far too soon.

"Let's hope they aren't consuming alcohol, I don't think there's any here at the moment" said Avery.

"How would you know that?" Severus frowned confusedly.

"I umm, well it's just a guess but look, no fire whiskey, just Butterbeer" he smiled. His eyes fell on a crate on the floor behind the sofa, he reached down and snatched two out handing one to Severus, they were surprisingly cool. "Here"

"Thanks" Severus smiled and popped off the top with his wand. He sipped it gratefully and followed his boyfriend through the crowd to where there were a pile of cushions at the back on the floor. Avery grinned and pulled Severus into his lap dragging him down for a passionate kiss.

Across the room Regulus nudged Evan in the ribs and nodded over to them.

"Hey, hey! Looks like people are already getting off" He shouted holding his Butterbeer up to the couple. Neither of them looked round but a few people turned to stare at them.

After an hour the room was getting louder and people were becoming more relaxed and forward, a few of the girls were already all over the guys who were thoroughly pleased with this.

By eight, two girls were climbing up on the tables and had begun dancing to loud cheers, a boy soon joined them and pulled his top off dancing between them, admittedly they were rather ugly girls but nobody cared much, an easy slut was an easy slut.

"Mm I think Mulciber is having fun" Avery smirked nodding over to where the boy was standing with two girls at his sides, the two girls whispered something to one another before giggling and pulling Mulciber in closer with them, from what they could see they were both kissing his cheeks and lips, Mulciber looked ecstatic about this and gazed over at them dreamily an enormous silly grin plastered across his face.

"Well whatever floats your broom" Severus chuckled raising his eyebrows. "Can say girls are my sort of thing" he grinned up at his lover.

"Mm me neither" Avery breathed pulling him in for another kiss.

After an hour the party became rowdy and ludicrous so Severus and Avery disappeared upstairs to have their bath, the others didn't seem to even notice they were having so much fun.

Avery drew the bath, stripped both of them and pulled Severus into the water with him. "That party wasn't so bad" he sighed as they sat down on the little ledge.

"It was okay, not much of a party person to be honest but it was entertaining watching what other people were doing" Severus said with a soft chuckle.

"Like Mulciber" Avery smirked. "I wonder if he'll get lucky tonight"

"Maybe" Severus grinned. "He might bring the girls up here seeing as he can't get into their dorm"

"Well if he does we're not leaving so he can just get on with his little romp there and ignore us" Avery sighed. Severus yawned and snuggled in closer. "Speaking of romping, that sex we had the other day was amazing I can't stop thinking about it" Avery grinned.

"I know my arse tingles whenever I think of it" Severus smirked wiggling his hips a little. "Next time your arse is getting it" he chuckled sinking his teeth into his bottom lip and gazing up at Avery.

Nearly an hour later of soapy massages and playful kissing, the boys got out and dried off heading straight for their bed. They clambered in and snuggled up, Severus pulling out his pregnancy book.

"So what's been happening this week?" Avery asked curiously his eyes scanning the detailed and diagrammed page Severus was looking at entitled 'week seventeen'.

"Well his skeleton was made from cartilage but it's changing to bone and he weighs about the same amount as a turnip" Severus grinned glancing up at his boyfriend his eyes twinkling brightly. "Apparently I may be a little off balance soon as my bump grows and I get used to it" he flushed a little.

Avery stretched to gaze behind the book at Severus' baby bump. "Mm definitely a cute bump there you're getting much bigger now, every week"

Severus laughed. "It also says my dreams may be effected with baby ones and apparently ones about small furry animals, something to do with my instincts" he frowned confusedly as Avery burst out laughing. "Also that I may be at either end of the sex scale, wild for sex and charged up with hormones or completely repulsed by myself and a libido of a brick"

"Well you're definitely the first one" Avery beamed pressing a kiss to Severus' temple. "Wild and crazy for sex" he breathed.

Severus blushed furiously and closed his book turning to cuddle right into Avery's body. "I love you so much" he breathed.

"I love you too" the taller boy breathed. "So much" he smiled closing his eyes.

The weekend drifted on by long and pretty boring. They spent most of it hanging out with their friends, reading and resting. By the time Monday arrived Severus seemed to have grown a little more his baby bump taking some more shape.

"Where are you two off so early?" Mulciber frowned still lying in bed by the time they were up and ready to go.

"We've got a confirmation scan" Severus graced merrily.

"Huh?" the boy frowned slowly opening his eyes.

"Madame Pomfrey is going to confirm we're actually definitely having a boy, sixteen weeks was very early to find out eighteen is usually when people do because it's a lot more accurate then but she was sure so we're hoping he's still a boy" Avery grinned squeezing Severus' hand gently.

"Oh right well good luck I hope everything goes well" the boy yawned smiling at them lazily. "Severus you're getting bigger as well" he pointed sluggishly to Severus' baby bump.

The boy smiled awkwardly but nodded anyway. "Thanks?"

"We'll see you later then" Avery waved as they headed out of the dormitory.

It took all of ten minutes to head off to the hospital wing this time they just walked straight in and were greeted eagerly by Madame Pomfrey.

"Good morning" she beamed leading them through their curtain. Severus hopped up on the bed an excitable smile on his face as he exposed his tummy and lay back watching Madame Pomfrey prepare herself.

"So how have you been these past two weeks?" she asked gently glancing between the two of them.

"Much better, I still feel tired but I'm feeling so fit and healthy now" he said brightly.

"You seem much better than you were, I remember when I first told you about the baby you really didn't seem very well at all" she said squeezing a fair amount of gel over his bump.

"I know I felt terrible but now I'm okay, even stuff that seemed bad before all looks trivial now" Severus smiled gently as she drew back and tapped the machine on.

"It's your hormones, but I'll bet you become emotional easily" she smiled holding the scanner head above his skin.

Severus flushed a little and nodded taking Avery's hand in his own. "Yeah that's the only downside" he chuckled nervously.

Madame Pomfrey smiled to them before pressing the scanner down and shifting it around until the moving little baby appeared on the monitor screen. "There's baby, he's looking nice and healthy in there still" she said turning the scanner around.

"He's so cute, he is still a he, isn't he?" Avery asked worriedly.

The nurse was quiet a moment turning the scanner around and checking underneath him. "Yes he most certainly is, look how much clearer his bits are now they've matured a little, it's amazing how much he can change within two short weeks isn't it?" she glanced to them a smile still lingering on her face.

"It really is" Severus breathed.

"Aw are those his tiny feet?" Avery grinned his eyes sparkling as he gazed at the screen lovingly. A tiny pair of baby feet were on the screen waving around a little.

"They are indeed, his heart looks excellent too and I can't really find a thing wrong" the nurse smiled turning the scanner around to double check him underneath and shifted back around again to show his full image. "He looks in very good condition, just keep doing what you're doing and this pregnancy should go very smoothly" she smiled removing the scanner and printing them a picture each.

Avery helped Severus clean up and sort his clothing out. She handed them the pictures and they stood grinning to one another.

"Thanks a lot we really appreciate it" Avery beamed.

"My pleasure, is there anything either of you two need to talk about?"

They shook their heads.

"Good, very well I shall see you in two weeks for your five month scan, come and see me any time and have a good fortnight" she smiled.

"Goodbye" they waved leaving the hospital wing still gazing at their pictures. Severus beamed as Avery pulled him into his arms.

"We're still having a beautiful baby boy!" he almost squealed.

"I know and I love him so much" Severus breathed burying his face in Avery's chest. "I love you so much, gods I can't believe this is really happening" he breathed.

"I love you too, Severus, and our little baby but you know what this means don't you?"

Severus looked up confusedly into his face.

"We'll have to start thinking of names for him" Avery beamed his smile enough to light the entire castle. Severus could feel his heart melting with love and happiness in his chest.

"Tonight, I have a names book we can start looking through it tonight" he breathed.

Avery smiled and leaned in for a kiss. "Tonight" he repeated as their lips touched softly.

If one thing was for sure, they couldn't wait to see what the next few weeks and months had in store for them...


	11. Chapter 11

"Hey how did the scan go?" Mulciber asked as Avery and Severus arrived at the breakfast table.

"Definitely a boy" Severus grinned excitedly.

"Aw that's cute, happy about it then?"

"Definitely" Avery grinned.

"Still not thought of a name?" Evan chuckled.

"Not yet" Severus said tucking into his fruit salad. "We'll have a look through the baby names book later on tonight when we get the chance" he said slowly.

After breakfast they headed off to the dungeons and surprisingly enough the potions classroom was already open. The boys headed inside and took their seats smiles still lingering on their faces.

"Now today we will be doing some simple tests on a variety of magical creature blood, our aim is to test for properties that can be used in the potions now listed on the blackboard" Slughorn explained and with a smile flick of his wand chalk writing appeared on the board. "If you feel squeamish put your protective gloves on" the same added quickly. "Now then, get to work" he smiled clapping his hands together brightly. He flicked his wand again and the trays of blood and solution appeared on the tables. The scraping of chairs filled the room and Severus sighed getting to his feet and pulling on his gloves.

"Shall we get started?" he smiled to Avery. Severus frowned at the look on his boyfriend's face. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah I just can't handle blood being open here" Avery said.

"Squeamish?"

"Yeah" Avery nodded averting his eyes as Severus peeled off the first lid and took a few droplets into a plastic lid. "Could you do me a favour and do the tests on your own and I'll write down the results?" he asked his eyes dropping to his lap completely unable to look at the blood. Apparently a few other people were feeling much the same because they averted their eyes and gagged at the sight of it.

"Okay, are you sure you're okay though?" Severus frowned with concern. Avery didn't look sick or paler or anything he looked quite normal apart from the fact he was shaking and couldn't look up from his lap, Severus had heard of people phobic of blood he just wouldn't have expected someone like Avery to be upset by such a small thing.

Minutes passed and Severus gave two results out of eight to Avery, the boy was shaking as he scribbled down the numbers, theory and conclusion in his note book. Severus could see how uncomfortable the boy was growing.

"How are you boys getting along then?" Professor Slughorn asked brightly coming over to their table.

"Fine and –"

"Sorry Professor I have to go" Avery said suddenly standing up so abruptly the force knocked his chair to the ground. He swept from the room without another word the dungeon door banging behind him leaving several students including Severus and even the teacher to stare after him in confusion.

"Blood makes him nauseous" Severus explained quickly.

"Very well, carry on with your work and if he isn't back soon I'll allow you to go and make sure he's alright" Slughorn smiled patting Severus gently on the shoulder before he walked away.

"Thanks Professor" said Severus.

...

The dormitory door burst open as Avery made his way through, without hesitation he went straight into the bedside table, pulled something out, almost ran into the bathroom to wash his hands. He stood gazing in the mirror and shaking as he popped open a few little tiny white pills from their silver metallic packaging and tossed them easily down his throat.

He stood staring at the counter shaking near violently for almost a minute before the shaking started to calm down and he relaxed until finally the shaking ceased and he felt much calmer once again. Avery went back to the dormitory and pulled something out from under the bed. It was one of the crystal phials he kept spare. He pulled the cap off and drank deeply from it with a substance he was using to help relax, the deep liquid had been obtained in the early hours of the morning and was still very fresh. He drained the phial and took it into the bathroom to wash it round before he returned to the dormitory, shed his clothes and lay down in bed curling himself up under the warm covers and staring off into space without blinking.

He hadn't been lying there for very long however when the dormitory opened and Severus appeared looking thoroughly concerned.

"Will?"

Avery looked up and smiled gently. "Hey" he spoke softly.

Severus came inside with a smile on his face and closed the door. "Just gonna wash up then I'll join you" he said before disappearing into the bathroom and reappearing a minute or two later. He dropped his school uniform and kicked off his shoes as he crawled into bed beside his boyfriend gently running his fingers through his hair.

"Are you feeling better now?" Severus smiled warmly.

Avery smiled and sat up turning over, he downed a whole goblet of pumpkin juice before he snuggled back down under the covers with Severus and kissing him tenderly on the lips. "I'm almost fine" he breathed.

"I'm a little worried, maybe you should go and see Madame Pomfrey" Severus said his lips pouting a tiny bit.

"I'm fine I just need a little rest"

"You really don't like blood, huh?"

"Nope" Avery chuckled. "You don't think less of me, do you?"

"No why would I?" Severus chuckled snuggling up closer.

Avery shrugged and curled up into Severus more grateful he had such an excellent boyfriend. "Some people would see it as weakness you know" he sighed.

"I don't and I'm not like everybody else" Severus replied.

"I know, you're far from ordinary Sev" Avery grinned excitedly.

They lay snuggled up together for quite some time even through break, by the time Transfiguration came they were both up, dressed and making their way to class once again.

"I'll bet you any money that people thought shit of me when I ran out" Avery commented as they headed up the stairs.

"If they do that's their problem, they're extremely unlikely to actually say anything to your face especially with what you did to Potter and his friends before, I'm surprised you didn't break his ribs" Severus said slowly.

"I hope you aren't worried I might hurt you" Avery said quickly.

"No I know you wouldn't, you're just very strong when you want to be, not that it's a bad thing of course I happen to find it very attractive. Also I feel fortunate to have a nice strong man to wrap his arms around me" Severus flashed him a grin as they stopped outside the classroom and Avery pulled Severus in for a cuddle.

"Mm" Avery smirked. "Well you'll always be safe with me around" his smirk spread into a grin.

"I'm glad" Severus chuckled softly nuzzling Avery's neck. He could feel people's eyes burning on them but he didn't care, he was happy and that was all that mattered they could think whatever they liked. Severus just didn't care for that sort of shit any more. "Are you sure you're okay today you seem a bit quiet?" he asked pulling back to search his lover's face worriedly.

"I'm absolutely fine, babe, stop worrying" Avery smiled gently. "Took me a while to stop feeling sick after first lesson just upset my stomach a little..."

"Are you sure you should be in lessons then?"

"Yeah I'm fine I just need to take my mind off it and laying around in bed all day isn't taking my mind off anything" Avery smiled.

Professor McGonagall let them into the classroom and the boys filed in and sat down by their friends whom had just arrived late from break time.

"You look quite bright today, Severus" Avery commented as they took out their text books and notes to start copying down what McGonagall had cast onto the board with her wand about fourth year exam work.

"I feel great" Severus smiled as he wrote quickly with his quill and black ink. "I think it's probably my hormones and this certain time of pregnancy but I feel excellent"

"I think it's the hormones for sure" Avery smiled. "Not that you looked bad or anything before of course but you just have this different air about you, a glow, untouchable" he breathed gently stroking the back of Severus' hand.

Severus flushed a tiny bit and unconsciously fluttered his eyelashes in that girlish way that Avery found just oh so adorable. "I hope not so untouchable you don't want to do things with me" he pouted a tiny bit.

A smirk spread across Avery's face. "I never said that, I would actually really like to rub my hands over your wet, naked and soapy body by candlelight whilst you sit on my lap"

Severus almost moaned a grin spreading across his face. "I do enjoy our baths"

Avery winked and they settled to listen to the lecture before today's practical.

The rest of the day passed in pretty much the same fashion, Avery seemed to improve in mood as the hours passed and after dinner they evening they settled into bed early flipping through their big book of baby names.

"What sort of name do you like?" Severus asked as they briefed over the pages.

"I really think he should have something special and unique" Avery smiled. "Especially given the circumstances of his conception"

"Anything in mind?" Severus asked curiously.

"Hmm, not sure yet to be honest" Avery yawned. "I think you should be the one to name him seeing as you're carrying him" he added with a smile as he ran his fingers through Severus' lovely long black hair.

"I think we should choose together" Severus smiled. "You're the one that knocked me up after all"

"But you're doing all the hard work" Avery laughed tickling his fingers over Severus' tummy. "So what name do you like?"

Severus looked thoughtful for a moment. "I quite like the name Kai but I don't know about it..." he said slowly.

"Kai huh? Avery looked thoughtful as he mulled the name over. "It's cute and ages well"

"Yeah the last thing we want is a baby name that when he gets older sounds completely retarded" Severus smirked.

"I think we should put that name on the high priority list if you're not completely sure maybe we could have another look when we're not so tired and figure out a nice name for him" Avery smiled gently.

"I like your thinking" said Severus. He closed the book and rested it down on the night stand before curling up into his boyfriend's chest. "Are you feeling okay tonight?"

"Yeah absolutely fine" Avery smiled.

Severus relaxed for some minutes gazing into Avery's eyes, they lay stroking one another before Severus' eyes suddenly widened and he snapped his fingers together loudly. "Rory!"

Avery blinked. "Huh?"

"Rory, a name for the baby!" he practically beamed. "What do you think?"

"I like it" Avery said his face spreading into a grin. "So now we have two names to choose from, how about we ask the other's what they think of them let them help us decide" he suggested brightly.

"That's a good idea" said Severus. "Tomorrow though I'm too bloody tired right now" he added with a yawn.

Avery laughed. "I love you, Severus"

"I love you too" Severus mumbled and seconds later he was curled up fast asleep in Avery's strong arms.

Avery emitted a long shaky breath and curled up around Severus' warm body, today had been stressful to say the least. He closed his eyes and allowed this time a dream filled sleep to overcome him.

_Avery walked, no, nearly floated through the trees. It was the very early morning and the crisp air of autumn whipped around him lifting the scents of the pine trees, fallen leaves, undergrowth and the wilderness around. In the distance he could smell smoke billowing from a chimney where a fire was cracking inside the warm house. He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply enjoying what would normally be the cool air, but Avery felt warm, he felt comfortable and relaxed. _

_A small noise in the trees around him, the scent of something else in his presence caught his attention and he turned to see Severus walking through the trees with a smile playing on his handsome features. _

_Avery smiled and held out his arms allowing the boy to move towards him. When he stepped from the bushes into the clear space on top of the small, grassy hill where the sunlight was spilling lazily over it illuminated him. Severus rested a hand on his tummy through his long sleeved clingy t-shirt, the material folding around the shape of a small baby bump, Avery found himself smiling. Severus was pregnant. _

_The boy moved forward so lightly like a ghost as he folded into Avery's strong arms like they were fitting together perfectly. _

_The dream was so warm and sunny Avery felt unbelievably relaxed. _

_Slowly Severus drew back smiling finally looking into Avery's eyes. Avery stared flinching slightly when he looked into Severus' face and really saw what was there. _

"_I love you" Severus whispered. _

"_I love you too" he whispered back. _

_Severus smiled and took Avery's hand he turned and ran into the trees Avery glided along behind him listening to Severus' light and strangely whimsical laughter as they tore through the trees their feet barely brushing against the ground. _

_They stopped in a tiny clearing the sun filtering through the trees overhead falling on Severus' beautiful skin, it was like he was glowing and he just looked beautiful. _

_The boy closed his eyes and remained there inhaling deeply for a few moments before those eyes opened again. He smiled and Avery knew exactly why he was smiling. They turned and bolted back through the trees..._

Avery's eyes opened and he gazed over Severus' sleeping form to the inside of the emerald drapes. He yawned and rubbed his eyes blinking slowly. His dreams were few and far between but lately he was having more of them and very strange ones about Severus. He wasn't sure if they meant something but that first one in particular frightened him more than he'd like to admit.

He felt a little sick. Glancing to Severus he got out of bed and slipped through the curtains. Pulling on his cloak and some shoes he glanced nervously back at the bed before slipping from the dormitory and disappearing out of the castle...

A little while later Severus woke feeling something was wrong. He stretched and his eyes opened wide. Avery was gone. He groaned and rolled over waiting for a couple of minutes until he peeked through the curtains, the bathroom door was open and the light was off, nobody was in there so that meant Avery wasn't in the dormitory.

He frowned and sat up, where could Avery have possibly gone to?

He wasn't waiting long before the dormitory door clicked open. He froze and heard footsteps going into the bathroom, the taps running and Avery sounded as though he was brushing his teeth before he came back and pushed open the curtains on his side a surprised expression washing over his face.

"Oh you're awake" he whispered as he climbed back into bed.

Severus stared.

"Where were you?"

"I went to the toilet" said Avery settling back in under the covers trying to pull Severus in for a cuddle but the boy didn't want one.

"No you didn't you went out of the dormitory, I've been waiting for you" Severus said calmly. "You went out somewhere"

Avery was a little surprised. "Oh yeah, I went out for a walk..."

Severus eyed him suspiciously. He wasn't stupid he could just sense that something strange was going on and Avery was lying to him, he just knew it. He settled back down in bed staring into his boyfriend's face. Where had Avery gone to and why was he lying to him? He sighed and snuggled warily into his boyfriend's chest.

Avery kissed the top of his head slowly.

"Why did you brush your teeth when you came back?" Severus asked quietly.

Avery hesitated a moment. "Because I had a funny taste in my mouth"

Severus sighed and closed his eyes in a long slow blink. "Please don't hurt me..."

"Severus I would NEVER hurt you!" Avery said his eyebrows falling with sadness and worry. "Don't even think like that, okay?"

Severus didn't say anything.

Avery sighed and cuddled him closer. "I hope you don't think I'm cheating on you..."

"Well tell me where you went then..." Severus said in a small voice.

"Look at me" Avery spoke softly. Severus looked up into his warm brown eyes.

"I would NEVER cheat on you, Severus I swear on our baby I wouldn't do that and you know I'm not like that" he spoke very honestly.

Severus swallowed and nodded wrapping his arms around his boyfriend's neck as they sat up. "Please tell me where you went"

"I... can't..." Avery said quietly.

"Why not, don't you trust me?" Severus whimpered.

"Of course I trust you it's not about trust it's that... I'm frightened of how you'll react if I did tell you where I went..."

Severus was quiet for a moment. "So sometimes when you slip out of bed in the night you're not really in the toilet?"

"No" said Avery slowly.

"You go out on these walks?" Severus clarified and his boyfriend nodded nervously. "That aren't really walks as such..."

Avery hesitated but nodded slowly. "Look, Severus, I'm not ready to tell you this please don't be angry with me and hate me though because I love you"

"I love you too" Severus breathed. "But why are you keeping this from me?"

"Because as I said I'm not ready to tell you because it's not a silly secret like having a third nipple, this might change your view of me and I don't want you to do that" Avery swallowed nervously. "I don't want to hurt you or terrify you so please be patient with me, you're really clever and I know you can deal with this and you can understand..."

Severus swallowed and nodded. "I respect you"

"Good, thank you so much and I promise to tell you in my own time, okay?"

Severus nodded a small smile curling in the corners of his mouth.

"I just want you to know I'd never hurt you or the baby in any way and I would never cheat on you, babe" Avery said simply.

"I'd never do those things to you either" Severus smiled.

They snuggled back down in bed and went back to sleep. Severus couldn't help but feel worried and confused about what was going on with his boyfriend, something strange was going on and he was desperate to find out but he respected his lover and wanted him to be happy and not feel pressured into telling Severus anything he wasn't ready to.

The next morning Severus woke still feeling sleepy. He groaned feeling Avery's fingers running through his hair and he stretched out like a sleepy kitten under his covers.

"Very cute" Avery smiled as Severus blinked up into his face his cheeks glowing a bit.

"What time is it?" the smaller Slytherin smiled.

"Half twelve" said Avery.

Severus sighed and closed his eyes. "Half twelve…. WAIT HALF TWELVE?!" he jumped his eyes flying open with surprise.

Avery nodded and chuckled again. "I went down and told the teachers you weren't feeling well, I did try to wake you but you sort of growled at me and buried yourself under the covers, you wouldn't let me touch you again unless it was a cuddle"

Severus blushed and grinned into his face. "Really? I vaguely remember something like that..."

Avery laughed again. "I thought it would be better if you took the day off, you're four and a half months pregnant you're tired and you need a break"

Severus yawned sleepily and curled in closer to Avery's chest.

"I've brought up some juice and snacks too for when you're hungry, you should probably eat soon though..."

"I am starting to get hungry" Severus smiled. "Thank you"

"My pleasure" Avery beamed.

"Mm accent"

"Mm Severus" Avery winked back.

A little while later, Severus got up and went into the bathroom to brush his teeth, have a wash and go to the toilet before he came back and they tucked into the food. Avery decided to get Severus' bump out to tickle it and make a fuss as they ate.

Just as Severus sank his teeth into a banana he gasped his hand flying to his tummy.

"What's wrong?" Avery asked suddenly panicked.

Severus' face lit into a beaming smile. "He moved... he kicked..." he breathed.

Avery' lips parted and he leaned further forward to gaze lovingly at Severus' bump. "He kicked you?"

Severus nodded a beaming grin spreading across his lightly flushed face. "He's moving inside of me, gods it's amazing!" he almost squealed like a girl making Avery burst out laughing.

"Wow" Avery breathed. "What does it feel like?"

"Muscle spasms I can't control, a funny fluttering and like a tiny beating" Severus grinned. "It feels so strange but amazing"

"Is it making your tummy feel upset?" Avery asked curiously.

"No it feels fine" the boy grinned. "Wow" he whispered gazing down at his baby bump. "He's amazing, he's so tiny and I can feel him inside of me moving around and doing stuff in there, he's so fucking cute"

Avery pulled Severus into his arms cradling him gently and tracing patterns on his growing baby bump. "We need to choose his name" Avery breathed. "I'm leaning more towards Rory to be honest I think that would be adorable and it's a great name for a little boy"

"Plus we don't know anyone called Rory..." Severus added in.

"Yeah so... is it THE name?" Avery asked with a small smile curling in the corner of his mouth.

Severus paused a moment before his smile grew even wider. "Yes, yes it is the name" he whispered.

Avery's face spread into an even bigger grin as he cuddled Severus closer. "Our son is called Rory…."

"He is indeed" Severus breathed.

They spent the rest of the afternoon in bed relaxing and talking mostly about the baby and his new found name. By evening they got dressed enough to go down for something to eat, Severus with his hands resting proudly on his bump as they made their way down earning some weird looks as per usual but he didn't give a damn today.

"Finally come out of your hidey hole then?" Regulus smirked as they dropped into their seats.

"Bet they spent the whole day fucking" Mulciber chuckled eyeing them suspiciously. He had of course improved but still wasn't fully there with the acceptance although he was pretty much there by now.

"No we didn't we spent it mostly sleeping" Severus laughed.

"But we did figure out what to call the baby" Avery jumped in resting a hand lovingly on Severus' bump.

They all leaned in curiously.

"Ooh, what are you going to name him?" Evan asked with sparkling green eyes filled with genuine curiosity.

Severus and Avery glanced to one another before they grinned.

"Rory" Avery practically beamed with happiness flashing his sparkling pearly white teeth at all of their friends.

"I like it!" said Mulciber happily.

"Cool name" Wilkes grinned.

"Very suiting" Regulus nodded happily. "I think that's a great choice"

Avery and Severus laughed and cuddled closer together. "It was Severus who came up with it" Avery pointed out.

"Nice one, Snape" Evan gave him a happy thumbs up as the two boys finally tucked into their dinner groaning with appreciation of the delicious hot food.

"And he could feel the baby kicking him" Avery grinned.

"Wow" Mulciber breathed his eyes widening.

They were bombarded with curious questions, boys obviously didn't understand how these things worked or what happened to someone who was pregnant but they were learning and feeling all the more curious when they saw things or heard things that had happened to Severus as he went through it all, they did live with him after all and they would be there when the baby arrived and would have him in the dormitory with all of them of course.

After dinner they went back to the dormitory and spent most of the evening messing around in the bathroom playing and washing one another and kissing playfully.

Two days went by and on Thursday Avery still hadn't told Severus anything.

They were back in lesson and sitting in potions that afternoon with Severus sitting stroking his bump under the table as he felt the baby move around inside of him.

"Everything okay?" Avery asked quietly as they drew up their diagrams and filled in the charts from last lesson ready to make them into neat versions.

"Yeah he's moving quite a lot is all" Severus flashed a smile.

"Avery reached over and rested his hand gently on the bump his face turning into a gentle smile. "I can feel him a bit better now" he breathed.

"He's getting bigger every week" Severus smiled a tiny bit. "Soon I'm going to be enormous" he added with a small chuckle as they returned to their work.

"That's a good thing though" Avery smiled gently. "Imagine what it's gonna be like when you go into labour"

Severus shuddered "Please don't make me think about that..."

"Babe I'll be with you and I'll help you through it, you'll be just fine" Avery smiled warmly.

They sat working in silence for a little while.

"Hey, how about tomorrow night we have a romantic night in?" Severus offered casually yet quietly.

Avery looked up at him positively beaming with excitement. "Oh I'd love that!"

Severus laughed a little and ran a hand up his boyfriends' trouser leg under the table. "I know you would" he whispered sinking his teeth into his bottom lip. "And I haven't forgotten that you want me to fuck you anally"

Avery blushed furiously but continued to smile. "Yeah"

Throughout potions they stole glances and by the time they were heading to the great hall for some dinner at the end of the day, James Potter had already started.

"Alright there chunky?" he teased strutting past Severus with his little minions surrounding him. "You're starting to get really overweight now oh greasy one" he smirked nastily.

Severus rolled his eyes and felt Avery squeeze his hand a little as his temper rose.

"I've warned you to leave him alone" Avery spat venomously. "Do I have to do worse to you this time than I did before?"

A concerned look flickered briefly across James' face but he shrugged it off and continued to smirk anyway looking for the approval of Sirius who was standing firmly with his hands on his hips looking as haughty and aggressive as ever.

"Oh stop worrying yourself you bastard" Sirius tutted irritably.

"What exactly do you want from us?" Severus asked impatiently.

"I don't want anything from the likes of you, oh no, I want to say though that you're looking as awful as ever" James smirked before turning his attention on Avery. "Recovered after what happened on Monday, have you?"

Avery tensed angrily glaring at the Gryffindor with the utmost loathing in his warm brown eyes.

"He's a little pussy running away from the blood like that, looked like he was gonna puke" Sirius laughed.

"Not such a big man after all, are you?" James taunted.

"I'm big enough to kick your head in!" Avery snarled viciously letting go of Severus' hand and stepping towards them.

"Ooh temper, temper" James smirked waggling a finger at the boy. "You wouldn't want to go and get yourself into trouble now, would you?"

Severus glanced warily to his boyfriend knowing all too well that Avery was probably very close to the brink of explosion. He stepped forward taking his boyfriend's hand again and tried to tug him around the boys. "Come on just ignore them they aren't worth our time" he smiled a little nervously.

Avery glanced to him, he knew Severus was right but he just couldn't tolerate people trying to get the better of him or upsetting Severus like that.

"Fuck you" Avery snarled.

"Please don't, I'd rather keep my anal virginity" Sirius laughed.

Avery made as though he was about to launch at the boy but Severus tugged even harder even though he didn't seem capable of moving his boyfriend the gesture caught his attention. Avery stared for a moment before he sighed and allowed Severus to pull him away.

"Yeah walk away, run along on your little dog lead do as it tells you to do like a good little puppy!" James called after them.

Avery stuck his middle finger up and kept walking until they sat down at the Slytherin table.

"I am going to break their legs one of these days..." Avery said angrily stabbing at his food with his fork enough to near break the plate.

Severus was worried. "Just ignore them they aren't worth our time, think about nice things like sleep and food and tomorrow night and baby Rory..." he smiled running a hand over his growing bump for extra emphasis.

Avery stared and his face softened to a little smile. "I just need to cool off, they really piss me off sometimes" he sighed.

"Don't let them because then they've won, we both knew they would eventually say something because they were just that childish, you weren't the only person to leave the room or get all dizzy with the blood, a Hufflepuff boy did and two girls felt sick looking at it" Severus smiled reassuringly. "So don't be so hard on yourself, you're a great person and it doesn't make you weak to have a phobia of blood or anything and it especially doesn't make you weak for ignoring prats like them"

"Why are you always right?" Avery laughed as the others sat down around them.

"Gryffindor's giving you trouble?" Mulciber quirked an eyebrow looking from one to the other.

"Yup" said Severus.

"Well don't worry because we're on it tonight, aren't we?" he smirked to Evan, Barty and Wilkes.

"Definitely" Wilkes smirked flexing the muscles in his arms.

Severus laughed. "Don't get put in detention for our sake"

"Let them" Avery smirked looking Mulciber directly in the eyes. "It will be funny to see them get in shit for what they do and we won't get the blame from them or get into trouble with the teachers for it"

Severus hesitated but smiled. "Well, okay..." he smirked.

After dinner the two boys headed back to the common room to lounge by the fire for a little while before they headed up to bed later on.

"Kiss me" Severus whispered leaning back the firelight dancing across his face illuminating the pupils in his very dark eyes and casting a warm glow across his checks and down his throat towards the small exposed area of chest.

Avery swallowed gazing at him before he leaned down and captured Severus' lips in his own. He slowly and carefully pressed Severus down so he was lounging across the sofa with Avery laying beside him, Severus on his back and Avery on his side as they kissed. A few people glanced over but the boys couldn't care less right now.

"You are so sexy" Avery whispered trailing his tongue along Severus' bottom lip teasingly watching as it sent shivers down Severus' spine.

"Mm you're far sexier than I am" Severus purred. "That's why the girls are all lapping you up because they think you're really fucking hot" he added with a wink. "I see them staring at you and blushing and giggling, similarly to the way they do it with Black"

Avery chuckled. "I'm not straight or even bi, I like your cock"

Severus groaned softly with delight. "You should like your own, you're hung enough for the both of us" he laughed softly.

"Sometimes being hung isn't always enough, sometimes you need your boyfriend to give you a right thorough bumming" Avery winked.

"You're starting to sound more and more like a bottom every day" Severus chuckled playfully. "And I like it" he winked.

"Well soon you'll be making me into a bottom" Avery smirked waggling his eyebrows teasingly. "And I look forward to that moment, so you have to tell me what it really feels like having something up your arse" he cocked his head to one side curiously.

"It feels good" Severus said. "It feels pretty intense even if it doesn't hurt because your arse is so sensitive and that but I like it and I think you will too" he smiled up into his boyfriend's face.

"I'm looking forward to it, so you think I really will like it?" Avery smiled gently.

"There are so many nerve endings around and inside there it is hard not to like it, although you do have to allow yourself to like it and stay relaxed but once you touch your sweet spot it's amazing" Severus grinned.

"You're turning me on just thinking about it" Avery whispered sinking his front teeth into his bottom lip. "I want it" he whispered.

"Tomorrow you'll get it" Severus grinned leaning up and kissing his boyfriend softly on the lips moaning very quietly.

"I look forward to my first time getting fucked" Avery smirked.

They cuddled up and lay there for a while longer just enjoying each other's company.

Avery gazed down into Severus' face and smiled his eyes wandering over him in the warm glow of the fire. "You wanna go upstairs and cuddle away from the close minded people that keep staring?"

Severus laughed and nodded. "Sure, let's go" he said getting to his feet. He allowed Avery to guide him up the dormitory stairs and into their room.

"Gotta pee" Severus said before he hurried into the bathroom.

Avery sighed and changed into his nightshirt and when Severus came out they traded places before finally getting to snuggle down in bed together.

"You're so fucking fit" Avery breathed nuzzling the side of Severus' face. Severus chuckled and cuddled in closer kissing Avery's neck tenderly.

"You're very frisky tonight aren't you?" Severus chuckled.

"I feel really well tonight and when I feel extremely well I feel so awake and like I need to touch you" Avery smirked. "I'm sure I'll be just the same tomorrow" he breathed.

"Good because tomorrow we can fuck" Severus smirked.

The curtain drew back a little way and Mulciber poked his head through a panic-stricken look on his face. "Hey guess what's happening?!" he gasped panting for breath.

The two boys looked very confused.

"James Potter, he's been taken into Dumbledore's office there's talk of expulsion!" Mulciber said his eyes wide and mad-looking.

Severus' eyes got very big. "What?! Why!?" his voice was a little too eager to be normal. James Potter, expelled? Surely his life would be much better if that happened, no more stressful fucking Gryffindor's.

"Something about the Cruciatus curse, a first year overheard him saying he was practising it on someone's cat and he was planning to use it on Avery!" he said his eyes flickering to his friend worriedly.

Avery sat up a little and stared. "Are you serious?!"

"Why would I lie?" Mulciber frowned. "Anyway we're gonna go see what we can find out, are you coming?"

Severus and Avery exchanged glances.

"Nah I think we'll pass, Severus needs his rest" Avery smiled. "Thanks for the offer though and you'll keep us posted on what happens?"

Mulciber nodded once. "Course" he said quickly before bolting away from the curtain and across the dormitory, apparently he was nearly as excited about it as Severus and Avery were.

The two boys settled down and lay there in silence for a little while.

"James Potter kicked out..." Avery said slowly shaking his head in disbelief.

"You don't think that Dumbledore will really expel him do you?" Severus asked glancing to the very handsome Slytherin.

Avery shrugged a little. "Have you ever seen any records of what happens to students who do attempt that curse? It's unforgivable and people get locked up in Azkaban for it..."

"Yeah but he wasn't using it on a person just some poor cat" said Severus. "But he was planning to use it against you" he shot a nervous glance to his boyfriend. Thank Merlin that someone had overheard that and reported it before James could actually perfect and use it on Avery. Severus had never experience the curse itself before however he had read about it through pure curiosity and heard stories from his mother and from the sounds of it, it was one curse you definitely did not want to feel the thrashing of.

Much to Severus' surprise Avery shrugged a little. "If he did I would have practically killed him, although I don't think it would bother me too much to be honest..."

"That curse would be extremely painful..." Severus said with a frown.

"Yeah I guess, but still, I'm more curious to find out if he gets the boot or not" Avery laughed a little. "If he's gone we will be able to enjoy the rest of your pregnancy in peace"

"I'm hoping he is kicked out" Severus grinned maliciously cuddling back up to Avery.

"Me too, Sev, me too" Avery breathed.

A couple of hours later whilst the boys were fast asleep the dormitory door opened again and Mulciber poked his head through their curtains. "Hey!"

Severus frowned and groaned waving a hand up lazily. Avery on the other hand opened his eyes to blink up confusedly at Mulciber.

"What?"

"We have a verdict" said Mulciber.

Severus didn't open his eyes. "I'm listening" he grumbled sleepily.

"Yeah, what happened?" it was Avery.

"Well he hasn't exactly been expelled but he has been given some serious punishments, from what we found out he's going to be kept from Hogsmeade for a while and Filch is allowed to give him some seriously vile detentions to make up for it" Mulciber was practically beaming with delight. The Slytherin's loved it whenever a Gryffindor got into trouble.

"Damn it" Severus sighed.

"Yeah we were hoping for something better than that" Avery said disdainfully. "Ah well, maybe next time" there was a happy glimmer of hope in those words...

They settled down to go back to sleep when Mulciber disappeared...

The next morning when Severus woke he was happy to know that Avery hadn't gotten out of bed once during the night. He yawned rubbing his tired eyes and smiled feeling the baby move inside of him before he gazed up lovingly and very sleepily into his boyfriend's face.

Avery appeared to be fast asleep his lips parted and an expression of bliss written across his handsome features. Severus smiled and leaned up gently brushing his lips across his lover's trying not to wake him. Avery was just so beautiful and he was excellent to watch when he slept, it was nice to see him so resting and calm it was a big change seeing as he had quite a lot of personality during the daytime or whenever he was awake.

He wasn't kept waiting long however as Avery's eyes slowly opened, he smiled down at Severus before cuddling him closer.

"Morning"

"Morning" Severus grinned. "You slept well"

"I did indeed" the taller boy chuckled softly. "How long do we have?"

"About fifteen minutes before we need get ready" Severus yawned.

"Good, we can cuddle then" Avery whispered.

When the fifteen minutes were up and the boys got up and dressed themselves before doing their bathroom routine, Severus was running a comb through his hair watching Avery popping open some of his usual small tablets.

Severus frowned. "Are you still taking those?"

"Oh, yeah" his boyfriend said casually taking just one of them today before zipping them carefully in his toiletries back.

Severus became very worried. "Is everything alright health wise?"

"Fit as a fiddle and still fitter than that" Avery beamed. "Why?"

"Don't Muggles take tablets when they're ill?"

"Yeah but I'm not ill" Avery chuckled sipping some water before he guided Severus out of the bathroom.

Severus rather got the impression that Avery didn't want him to know about or even talk about what he had just witnessed again...

They headed down to breakfast where Severus eagerly packed a ton of food in earning him some weird stares before they headed off to their first lesson.

Most of the day passed without a hitch with both boys growing more and more excited as the day went on knowing all too well exactly what they would be spending the start of their weekend (tonight) doing in the dormitory...

Towards the end of the day, Defence against the Dark Arts was on the timetable and the two boys headed inside laughing with the rest of their friends. They took their seats pulling out their parchment, writing set and text books as the lesson began.

"This lesson we're going to be looking in more detail into a subject you probably don't know too much about" the teacher began flipping his dirty blonde hair from his eyes. "Today we are going to be talking about Werewolves"

Remus Lupin tensed ever so slightly in his seat but nobody noticed as the teacher went on talking.

"You know the basics so I will not need to recap but today we are going to be studying on how to stop and identify a Werewolf transformed and as a human" the teacher went on.

The blood was pounding in Remus' ears.

"Many Werewolves choose not to even attempt to live alongside humans due to the discrimination they face when in human forms. The Ministry of Magic regard them as highly dangerous specimens which to be avoided at all costs, Werewolves whilst in human form pose little to no danger provided they do not choose to attack and cause a minor level of contamination in normal humans" he went on.

Severus and Avery started taking notes.

"Werewolves do have tendencies even when in human form, some enjoy very rare steak, other's become ruffled or aggravated for no real reason, some choose not to breed, they can appear very standoffish and may not proceed with normal interactions. A lot of Werewolves whom live alone and transform alone or in a confined space will bite or claw at themselves studies have shown causing injury and some scarring to be left behind, the wounds a Werewolf leaves are nearly always permanent and will fade very little even after years" said the teacher pacing up and down casually at the front of the room. "However this is not true for all wolves, some appear as perfectly normal, perfectly healthy and unmarked individuals especially earlier on in life, in order to become a Werewolf you must be bitten by a fully transformed one, blood saliva contact is how humans are infected, some wolves become carried away and will kill or severely injure a human but often it is just a case of biting and infecting"

Severus sat up straighter his dark eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Contrary to popular belief they are not affected by silver, it takes a full moon to be risen in the nights sky to change a human into wolf form, there is very little difference between the males and females and they do not form wolf packs as such as they are fairly solitary creatures" he continued. "It isn't known if they can infect any animals or magical creatures into Werewolves but studies have found any animals known to be bitten for example a dog, not to change and they are rarely aggressive towards other animals"

There was a pause whilst the class continued to take notes.

"A change in both physical and mental states of humans leading up to the full moon and usually a day or two past has been noted, before the full moon a human may become restless, agitated, tired, peaky or even sickly looking, they may lose their appetite and interests temporarily and the day after when the new moon rises into the sky it is the worst part of their cycle every month in which they will suffer discomfort, tiredness, sometimes fatigue and a highly aggressive temper"

Severus glanced warily to Avery as the teacher continued to talk...

"Obviously a Werewolf cannot be with his or her friends or family or even humans on the night they transform so they will disappear, it has been noted that some families do not actually know their loved one is a Werewolf until they monitor the moon cycles for several months and take a great interest and are extremely observant in what the person is doing. Many Werewolves live in secret and the Ministry does not know about all of them, some wolf packs deep in the country side or the mountains even are unknown to the Ministry who cannot keep tabs on or control them, even a wolf in human form will be stronger than the average human and sometimes a little faster too even if they don't physically appear that way"

Severus was starting to become extremely worried. Avery had been slipping away at night and returning in the morning, or at least he thought he had. Did he need the full moon to touch him before he transformed or could he delay it just by staying away for a little while? Enough for Severus to get into bed at least...

Avery had been acting pretty shifty and getting more so as the relationship progressed, he had a secret he didn't want Severus to know about too.

Severus swallowed nervously. "Could his boyfriend really be a Werewolf?"

By the end of the lesson Severus was reeling even as he smiled vaguely at Avery's jokes and the way he walked past James smirking with delicious pleasure over the fact the boy looked absolutely furious but at the moment had been warned to stay away from Avery no matter what unless he wanted to lose his place in the school.

At dinner Severus wasn't feeling any better, he watched Avery eating his normally cooked steak with suspicious little eyes. It didn't fully make sense but it would explain the disappearing, the strange behaviour, the way he would explode over very little things mainly to do with his homework not being right or those Marauders...

Severus closed his eyes in a long slow blink, he didn't actually want to think about this or what it could mean if he was right and Avery was a monster...

When they headed back to the common room, Avery pulled Severus into his lap kissing him on the cheek and brushing his hair from his eyes. "Hey what's wrong? You've been so quiet this afternoon I'm worried" he frowned.

Severus sighed and shook his head. "Nothing I'm a little tired"

"Oh, don't you want to have some fun tonight then?" Avery sounded a tiny bit disappointed as though he were trying to hide it.

"No still want to" Severus smiled up into his face, it wasn't a lie he really did he would rather know the truth about his lover before sleeping with him again.

"Great, so how about we go upstairs now, have a nice bath and then get cost in bed to have some fun?" the boy winked playfully.

Severus blushed, smiled and agreed softly.

"We're going to the dormitory, you might want to give it a couple of hours before you come up though" Avery winked to his friends as he swept Severus up off of his feet bridal style and carried him from the room up the dormitory steps before anyone could even reply.

"They're going to bang each other's brains out all night again aren't they?" Regulus said flatly.

There was a murmur of agreement.

Upstairs, Avery pushed open the bedroom door allowing it to bang shut tightly behind him before he carried Severus into the bathroom.

"Not too heavy am I?" Severus chuckled.

"Nope, lighter than a tiny feather" Avery grinned resting his boyfriend down on the spare stool before he turned to run the bath.

Severus stared after him very suspiciously watching as the boy stripped. His dark eyes wandered over his lover's beautiful, toned and immaculate body, his pale perfect skin so beautiful and not a mark or scar in sight...

Avery chuckled and strode casually over to Severus helping him undress before he shut off the taps, hopped carelessly into the water and helped guide Severus in after him.

Severus had to groan with pleasure as the warm soapy water massaged his every curve. Even though he wasn't massively pregnant yet he still got a few odd aches where he was growing and the weight of the baby was growing by the week he wasn't exactly super skinny like he was before so it was a change carrying a bump around with him all the time.

Avery smiled pressing his lips to the nape of Severus' neck kissing him softly and groaning with pleasure. The lights dimmed a little and Severus moaned softly, it was so romantic.

Slowly but surely with each and every kiss Avery pressed to Severus' supple, pale skin he lifted the tension Severus felt and drew all thoughts of Werewolves and monsters from his mind filling it with delightfully sexual ideas.

"We've had a fairly busy week" Avery whispered. "You deserve some fun"

Severus moaned.

"Some fun in my bum that is..."

"Yes" Severus groaned.

"You still want to do that to me then?"

"Mm yeah" Severus breathed.

"You want to penetrate me and make me your bitch?" Avery said huskily his voice heavy with arousal in Severus' ear as his hands moved to massage up Severus' sides towards his chest.

Severus sank his teeth into his bottom lip and moaned loudly again. "I want to fuck you" he whispered.

They continued this teasing foreplay for a good twenty minutes...

"Are you ready to get out?" Avery growled playfully making Severus blush and laugh.

"More than ready, let's go" he beamed.

They got out and only pulled on their boxers before they headed back into the dormitory and fell between closed emerald drapes their lips locked into a deep passionate kiss. Severus moaned his fingers lacing through his boyfriend's amazingly soft dark locks, he was so handsome and oh so beautiful it was nearly impossible to resist his electrifying touches.

Avery gasped softly and broke the kiss his hand massaging over the swelling erection through Severus' faded navy boxer shorts.

Severus moaned loudly clutching at the bed sheets as Avery kissed along his jawline and down onto his neck. "I'm so turned on right now..."

Avery let out a soft growl of pleasure a tiny whimper coming forth through his lips after as his lips reached Severus' neck pressing tender, sweet kisses down his throat a little way reaching the pulse point of his neck. He inhaled deeply and moaned his lips parting further as his tongue lapped gently at the pale skin there.

Severus moaned again every touch igniting a powerful fire in the pit of his stomach.

"Gods I love you"

"I love you too" Avery whispered his lips parting slightly further. He was so far gone, he was so turned on, Severus' body, his touch, his kiss and his smell... Avery moaned softly.

Severus gasped feeling something sharp gently brushing against the skin on his throat it felt so nice and-

Avery's eyes flew open and he tore himself away from Severus leaping backwards the drapes flying open as he stumbled back across the dormitory looking wild eyed and alarmed.

Severus sat up staring at him in complete and utter confusion watching his boyfriend hold his hands up near his face his fingers curled and his face washed with terror, that was when Severus noticed the poor boy was trembling.

"Will?" he whispered his heart hammering in his chest. "What's wrong?"

Avery swallowed and just stared at Severus looking utterly terrified.

Severus' eyes dropped as they roamed over his own body in confusion horrified that he might have done something wrong. "Wh-"

"Oh gods..." Avery choked out trembling even worse now, the fear seemed to be slowly replacing itself with shock-horror as he gazed at Severus worriedly his eyebrows creasing into terribly hurtful frowned.

"Did I do something wrong?" Severus sounded extremely hurt.

Avery swallowed and closed his eyes pausing for a moment before his hands lowered to his bare chest level. He opened his very warm brown eyes slowly to gaze at Severus with tears in his eyes. "No you did nothing wrong..."

Severus was terrified, why had Avery done that? He'd never EVER leapt away from him in terror and disgust before so why now? Maybe it was something to do with the way Severus looked, maybe his breath was bad or there was something horribly off putting about him tonight...

"It is me, isn't it?" the boy said again still sounding very hurt.

Avery swallowed and shook his head slowly. "No it isn't you, Severus…. It's me..."

Severus looked confused. He went to get up from the bed but Avery held his hands up to stop him and began to slowly take one step at a time towards the bed.

It took over a minute to walk the couple of feet between them but finally Avery sank down on the bed in front of Severus. He reached and pulled them t-shirts to put on, Severus yanked his own on very quickly out of pure nerves frightened he might look horrible or something.

A few moments passed before anyone spoke again.

"What's wrong?" Severus asked worriedly, he reached out to Avery and the boy gently took his hands still trembling ever so slightly.

Avery didn't say anything.

"Please tell me... are you hurt? Is it me?"

Avery shook his head slowly but didn't meet Severus' eye.

Horror was starting to crash over Severus, maybe he was right about what he thought earlier, maybe Avery couldn't live with himself after lesson today, maybe he'd forgotten about the full moon, maybe-

Avery sighed softly catching Severus' attention. "I suppose you have something to ask me about and I think we both know the answer to it already..." his voice was surprisingly quiet.

Severus swallowed shaking slightly himself but out of nerves, he wasn't sure how he would handle hearing it, he didn't know if he could cope.

Another minute or so ticked past.

"I-I think I know what's wrong with you, where you've been going, what you've been hiding and so secretive about, sometimes you're really quiet for no reason and you do strange things and explode over nothing and you're really strong and...and..."

Avery looked Severus directly in the eye.

"You're a Werewolf..." Severus let it out in a heavily breathy sigh.

Avery froze and stared.

Severus watched his boyfriend's face spasm with confusion his lips even parting slightly. Slowly but surely Avery's confusion washed with delight, he threw his head back and laughed about it which only upset Severus further.

"Oh... oh Severus!" Avery laughed quietly.

"Why are you laughing?" Severus blinked, confused. He seriously didn't think this was anything to laugh about!

Avery calmed down very quickly and shook his head. "No, Sev, I'm not a Werewolf, where on Earth would you get an idea like that?" he asked gazing at Severus in complete confusion and disbelief, even if he had just been laughing he still didn't look anywhere near how he normally did and that worried Severus even more.

"Y-you're not?"

Avery shook his head once again. "No"

"But I thought..." Severus wrinkled his nose unable to comprehend what was happening.

"Does this have something to do with me slipping away and what you heard in Defence this afternoon?" Avery asked suspiciously.

Severus blushed and nodded starting to feel rather silly.

"Well I can promise you that I am most certainly not a Werewolf..." Avery said seriously.

Severus breathed a hefty sigh of relief and smiled up into his boyfriend's face.

"But there is one thing I haven't been honest with you about and tonight..." he trailed off shaking his head a little that horrified, sickening expression crashing over his handsome face again.

"What is it?" Severus asked in a soft, small voice.

Avery hesitated a moment. "I feel awful for not telling you sooner and I need you to promise me you'll try to be open minded about it and you won't scream and run away when I tell you this..." he looked into Severus' eyes and for the first time, Severus could see straight into his soul, really see into it, the boy was vulnerable, the most vulnerable Severus had ever seen anyone. The emotion in those eyes was incredible and so terrifying to say the least, it was almost indescribable in fact.

"Okay…. I'll try..."

"I want to say that I feel terrible for not telling you sooner, for keeping this a secret, I've practically been lying to you, Severus and you don't deserve that" Avery swallowed. "You deserve to know where I've been going, what those tablets are for, my behaviour, my changes over the past months since last summer and just everything about me, I'm not who or what you think I am..."

Severus' heart was beating a tattoo of nerves in his chest, his dark eyes were wide and frightened and his rosy still kiss-swollen lips parted. "Avery-"

"I'm a vampire, Sev..."

Severus' eyes widened so dramatically not like ever before as he gazed into those pooling warm brown eyes.

The words hung in the heaviest silence in the universe...

...

…


	12. Chapter 12

_"I'm a vampire, Sev..."_

_Severus' eyes widened so dramatically not like ever before as he gazed into those pooling warm brown eyes._

_The words hung in the heaviest silence in the universe... _

Severus wasn't sure he had heard right, anything, just anything could have been said over this. The Werewolf theory...

This was not happening, this was just not happening...

"No" he choked out finally.

"Yes" Avery said, he reached forward to touch Severus but the boy shrank back in horror. A hurt expression crossed Avery's face.

Severus' terrified eyes flickered towards the door and slowly he rested a hand on him bump looking at Avery in absolutely horror. What about the baby?

Avery seemed to understand but he shook his head slowly "No, Severus..." He reached for the boy again but on instinct, Severus leapt to his feet and started to run across the dormitory towards the door.

In a flash Avery was behind him and seized a hold of his arms. Severus let out a terrified shriek but Avery's hand clamped down over his face. In a wild panic, Severus thrashed trying to get loose but nothing seemed to even faze the boy remotely. Severus was extremely weak compared to Avery especially so now.

There was nothing he could do as Avery pulled him backwards to gently push him down onto the bed. Avery climbed on top of him carefully avoiding the baby bump as Severus' eyes filled with frightened tears, his boyfriend's hand clamped over his mouth keeping him silent.

"Shh I'm not going to hurt you, Severus..." Avery breathed softly. "You're safe with me, you always have been and you know that"

Severus didn't say anything he just continued to stare up into Avery's warm brown eyes filled with hurt but somehow they were understanding. He whimpered quietly in fear still trembling all over.

Slowly but surely Avery lifted his hand and before Severus could scream for help he tilted his face down and kissed Severus so softly on the lips it made the boy gasp and relax somewhat.

After some time, Avery sat up slowly and allowed a frightened, nervous Severus to sit up too without being held.

"Yo-you're a vampire?" Severus whispered still unable to come to terms with this.

Avery nodded slowly. "I know I should have told you at the beginning of the relationship and I know it was wrong to keep something like this from you but I was scared of how you might react and I had a right to be seeing as you leapt away from me and tried to run screaming, I knew something like that would happen, it just had to it's instinct to run away from something like me..."

Severus swallowed but said nothing.

"If this helps to change your mind a little about leaving me then I want you to know I really love you, Severus, more than you know and I would never hurt you, look at what we've been through already and not once did I do anything to even attempt to hurt you" Avery said seriously, an expression of near desperation written across his handsome face.

"I'm not leaving you" Severus swallowed. "But I am frightened"

Avery smiled warmly and carefully pulled Severus in for a cuddle, he heard a small noise escape the boys' lips and he hesitated a moment before hugging Avery back.

"I'm no different to I was this morning or the first time we made love or anything" Avery breathed. "I'm still me just with a few changes is all"

Severus frowned a little and pulled back enough to look into Avery's handsome face. "Is that why you changed over the summer, physically you came back looking different"

Avery nodded. "It is indeed"

"Then that means... you were bitten over the summer!" Severus gasped, now he just looked worried.

Avery swallowed and nodded again. "Yes I was it happened sort of early July, I'd gone out with my mum and dad and decided to wander off for a bit so I went into the woods for a walk, it was late at night and really quiet, dead quiet in fact but I kept walking along a little trail and sometime later..." he paused. "I was attacked by a vampire, she was wild and blood thirsty and could probably smell me a mile off, she bit me and drank a little blood before she pulled back in horror at what she'd done so she ran for it leaving me there" he went on.

"Wow..."

Avery licked his lips to wet them a little before he went on. "I managed to get up, I was bleeding she's torn my throat up and I was in agony I knew I needed help so I tried to go back through the woods but the pain came and it was blinding, I was in agony I felt ill I was shaking it was like acid was flowing through my veins and I collapsed the floor under a nice tree and lay there. I just knew I was changing at that point and when it was finally complete I opened my eyes and the world was a different place. I think I was laying there for around a day at the most, it was daylight when I woke and I could see, hear and smell EVERYTHING around me and from a good distance away from me too" he smiled a little. "But the most imminent thing I knew was that I was thirsty..."

Severus flinched. "Go on" he whispered.

"For a few days I was wild, blood thirsty and out of control" Avery said nervously. "I would attack anything and everything that came by, although luckily no humans did it was animals. I realised I was immensely strong, fast and agile, I didn't tire out and I didn't actually require sleep but I liked to sleep, nothing could hurt me even when a stag charged at me and slammed fully into my chest with his prongs, I barely even felt it"

Severus' eyes widened. "I thought vampires died when staked through the heart..."

Avery burst out laughing. "No that's a silly old Muggle myth" he said. "Vampires don't die, nothing can kill a vampire that's the beauty of it"

Severus nodded slowly.

"Not planning to try and kill me are you?" Avery teased.

"Of course not" Severus said honestly. "I'd never want you to die" added with a truthful smile on his face.

"Good" Avery smiled gently. "I want you to know I love you forever, Severus"

"I love you forever too" Severus breathed. "So... what happens next in the story?" he asked curiously a nervous flicker running through his eyes.

"Well, after about four days my parents came looking for me, I wandered near the edge of the woods knowing I had to go home sooner or later. I held my breath when they found me, they hugged me and took me home but they knew something was different...and so I told them about the attack and my transformation and they still accepted me for who and what I am" he said quietly.

"Does sunlight burn you?" Severus asked curiously.

"Nope" Avery smiled. "I give a little twinkle at the most but mostly it just makes me look scary because I'm so pale with such hair and deep colouring on my features like my lips and eyes but the sun doesn't do a thing to bother me that's also a myth"

Severus nodded slowly. "That's a relief"

"Look, Severus I know you're frightened of me right now and I promise not to hurt you or to ever lie to you again" Avery said with a remorseful frown on his handsome face. "I love you and I love the baby too and I'd never hurt either of you, ever"

"But tonight-"

Avery shook his head. "Severus I was extremely aroused and when vampires get aroused we sort of... lust for a little more than sex, the intimacy is what made me want to bite you not because I was thirsty, but you do smell extremely good if I might add"

Severus blushed but shivered, maybe that wasn't such a good thing.

Avery just smiled pleasantly.

Severus slowly crawled into his boyfriend's lap cuddling up to him, he still felt nervous but much more at ease than he did a little while ago. "I'm sorry for running away from you..."

"It's fine" Avery whispered kissing the top of his head.

"What about the baby?" Severus asked in a small voice.

"He's fine he's not like me I can tell it, he's a human baby just like you" Avery smiled.

"You were a vampire when you got me pregnant" Severus whispered.

"Yes and that was part of the reason why I didn't kiss you, I was still a new born then, Severus, I didn't want to bite you by accident or anything"

Severus swallowed and nodded slowly. "And now?"

"I wouldn't call myself a new born but I'm still a very young vampire" said Avery with a smile. "So sometimes I might seem like I'm acting weird but all I ask for is you to be patient with me as becoming a vampire was an enormous difficult change" he swallowed. "I feel amazing though and I think that's what counts mostly, I'm young and I can get very thirsty but I would never bite or hurt you, I've never drank human blood before no matter how good it smells and you by far smell the most delicious, but never, Sev, never" he spoke seriously.

"I believe you and I'll help you or give you whatever you need" Severus breathed.

"Thank you" Avery smiled warmly. "And in return I'll always love and protect you no matter what"

A sudden realisation hit Severus. "That's why you're never worried about what Potter could do to you, or Black!"

Avery laughed but shrugged and nodded anyway. "Pretty much"

"Because they couldn't hurt you very easily at all"

"Precisely" said Avery.

"So then... who else knows about you being a…. a vampire?" Severus asked quietly.

"My mum and dad, Professor Dumbledore and you" Avery smiled gently.

"You haven't even told Mulciber?!" Severus gasped his eyes widening with surprise more than anything else. Mulciber was his best friend surely you would tell your best friend something like this. But Avery shook his head sadly.

"I'm frightened if I tell him he will let it slip by accident or he will judge me and see me as filth"

"But you're a pureblood too!"

Avery shrugged a little. "You could be a pureblood but also be a Werewolf, would that still make you honourable?"

Severus hesitated a moment. "That's a difficult one but I'd say most people would still avoid"

"Yeah and although most people don't understand what a true vampire is they will still assume we're evil and dangerous, well new born vampires are dangerous but if they can control themselves they're quite safe, I'd deem myself safe otherwise I wouldn't be with you" he smiled gently. "And about when I tried to bite you earlier it wasn't a vicious bite and as I said it wasn't because I'm thirsty or anything it was intimacy but you're human and if I bite you then it would change you and that would be extremely dangerous for the baby while you're pregnant" he swallowed.

Severus nodded slowly with understanding slowly mulling things over in his mind. "But I've seen you eat dinner..."

Avery chuckled softly. "Yes and that won't do me a bit of harm it actually helps give a few more hours before I become really thirsty because it gives my body something to work on, food doesn't taste the same but it's okay and it's a normal human thing to do"

Severus stared at him a frown creasing between his brows. "But what about those tablets, are they something to do with you being a vampire?"

Avery nodded slowly. "Blood tablets" he said simply. "They're not made from real blood but they have similar compounds, they do have some dried flakes of rabbit blood inside of them which helps to control thirst, I've been taking them since the day I got home after being bitten and they really help me. They have hormone levels in them and hormones are registered with me as not to increase fertility or change my appearance like with humans for example you are a teenager but you're pregnant and full of hormones which gives extra flavour, my body sees that flavour in the blood tablets"

Severus swallowed and nodded cuddling up closer. "You'll have to show me what you can do soon..."

Avery laughed. "You want to see me run? See me hunt, climb, jump, my strength, my agility and just what I'm capable of? So much more about me has changed, my hearing, my sense of taste, smell, touch and my eyesight is incredibly powerful"

Severus nodded blushing but he felt eager to know. "I want to learn more about you"

"In that case, yes you can, maybe I'll show you some things this weekend" Avery flashed a grin.

Severus stared at his pearly white teeth.

"I guess you want to see my fangs..."

"Fangs?!" Severus gasped a little.

Avery smiled and opened his mouth properly for the first time showing Severus the four razor sharp slender canine teeth. Severus stared at them before slowly reaching out and touching them, he didn't want to run his finger over them in case he cut it they were extremely sharp.

"I've noticed when you smile you keep your lips covering the bottom of them so they look like normal teeth, you don't let anyone see properly inside your mouth" Severus breathed. "But what about... sexy stuff"

"I can suck you off quite easily, Sev" Avery chuckled. "My teeth won't get in the way unless I do it on purpose but I'm guessing you probably don't want my mouth near your genitals after hearing this"

"Well... I think I might" Severus winked.

"Really?" Avery asked hopefully.

"Yeah if you aren't going to hurt me I have nothing to worry about" Severus smiled gently. "Although I need to get used to this whole situation, I really wasn't expecting anything like this to happen tonight let alone any other time"

"I understand that" Avery smiled moving to lay down on his side pulling Severus with him. "You trust me, don't you?"

Severus nodded slowly. "I wish you'd have told me sooner but everything is still okay" Severus smiled gently.

They sat there quietly for a little while just enjoying each other's company and mulling everything that happened over as they sat back up again.

"I know this is going to sound extremely dumb but... you drink blood?" Severus said calmly gazing up into Avery's face just so innocently.

"Yes I do but as I said before it's animal blood and I never drink it then come back and kiss you without rinsing my mouth and brushing my teeth" he smiled. "And remember, you can't tell anyone at all about this because people won't exactly be cheerful about having me around, I won't get kicked out because I'm under control but I am fast, strong and much more physically capable than humans" he swallowed.

"I'd never tell anyone your secret" Severus breathed draping his arms around Avery's neck.

"Thank you"

They gazed into each other's eyes for a few moments before slowly Severus leaned in without any hesitation and pressed his lips tenderly to Avery's. It felt like he was kissing the real Avery for the first time, it felt so new and so fresh and he loved it.

The kiss quickly grew passionate and Severus slowly turned Avery pushing him back against the pillows, Avery allowed it to happen (obviously) and moaned softly.

Severus emitted a soft breathy moan capturing his boyfriend's amazingly soft lips with his own once again. "Do you still want to..."

"Yes" Avery breathed breaking the kiss to slide his own top over his head and throw it to the bottom of the bed over Severus' shoulder scrunched in a little ball. Severus blushed and removed his own feeling a little more self-conscious than usual knowing that Avery's eyes were probably extremely sharp.

"You don't need to feel wary, Severus" Avery whispered against his lips as their rapidly swelling erections brushed together through the fabric of their underwear. Severus moaned softly and reached down to pull off his boyfriend's underwear revealing him intimately. Avery slowly did the same thing to Severus, his throbbing erection springing free. "Prepare me" he whispered hungrily.

Severus moaned and reached onto the bedside table picking up the bottle of lubricant he popped the cap and coated his fingers thickly. Avery watched curiously as Severus slid down the bed a little bit and propped his legs up so he could get better access. His fingers pressed gently to his boyfriend's anus and Avery gasped a little feeling it massaging him a little.

"That feels really good" he breathed gazing lovingly into Severus' black eyes.

Severus moaned softly and continued to circle his boyfriend's little pucker. Avery gasped when Severus slipped his middle finger inside.

"That's nice" he whispered.

Severus couldn't help but smile. "You like it then?" he whispered sliding his finger back and forth slowly knowing that even if it wasn't hurting his boyfriend it would probably feel quite intensive even to a strong vampire it was still something up his bottom.

"Yeah it feels nice, different, but nice" Avery breathed gazing at Severus and moaning softly when he pushed a second finger inside pushing them in as far as he could he paused and waited for his lover to get used to the intrusion before he started to move them again inside of him.

"Doesn't it hurt you at all?" Severus asked curiously shuffling so he was closer to his boyfriend again.

"No" Avery whispered. "It just feels a bit intense and stuff, feels good there's no pain at all"

Severus' lips curled into a warm smile. "I'm glad"

He continued thrusting his fingers for a few more minutes scissoring and stretching them pushing his boyfriend open further.

"If fingering this good then I can't wait to find out what sex is like!" Avery grinned still moaning quietly with pleasure.

Severus just smiled sweetly, withdrew his fingers and began coating his erection thickly in lubricant. Avery watched with curious eyes and smiled when Severus climbed on top of him brushing their lips together tenderly.

"Are you ready?" he whispered huskily.

"More than ready, Sev" Avery breathed gazing lovingly into his boyfriend's eyes.

Severus blushed a little at the intensive look but smiled right back as he slowly began to push himself into his boyfriend's tight anus.

Avery gasped feeling Severus breeching his tight ring of muscle and entering his body properly for the first time. "Fuck..."

Severus moaned pushing himself just over a quarter of the way inside, he held still not just for Avery's benefit but for his own thinking he might explode at the slightest movement, the pleasure was incredible and came over him in waves. No wonder Avery liked being on top so much. "Are you okay?"

"Never better" Avery groaned softly relaxing around Severus' member, he gazed up into those powerful dark eyes and knew just how much pleasure Severus was getting from this, he smiled warmly and spread his legs further lifting his feet off of the bed giving his lover better access to him, he moaned feeling Severus slide deeper without even trying and the boy gasped loudly whimpering his name softly. "More" he groaned.

Severus caught the look on his boyfriend's face and set a nice rhythm trying to keep himself cool as he thrust into his boyfriend.

The air was filled with their soft gasps and moans, Avery cried out a little when Severus pushed all the way inside and brushed against his prostate.

"Give me more, Sev" Avery moaned arching his back off of the bed. "More"

Severus was moaning almost non-stop with pleasure as he quickened his pace thrusting in and out of his boyfriend with mounting urgency, he reached down to Avery's large member and started stroking him knowing that neither of them would last much longer. "Can I-"

"YES!" Avery whimpered.

Severus began thrusting hard and fast into his boyfriend picking up his pace, Avery was soon moaning and gasping even more so arching into both the thrusting and the touching.

"SEVERUS!" Avery cried out as he exploded between them soaking both himself and Severus in his hot flow of semen.

It was too much for Severus, the look on his boyfriend's face as he came, Severus nearly shrieked Avery's name as his walls clamped down on his member so tightly he could barely thrust and he came buried balls deep inside of him. "Avery!" he gasped loudly his whole body shaking with the force of the intense orgasm.

It took quite some time for Severus to regain enough strength to withdraw his softening member and roll over to lay beside him curling up around his body. He was surprised to note that Avery didn't seem tired but he did however seem very thoroughly satisfied.

"Fuck that was good" Avery breathed nuzzling the side of Severus' face.

In truth, Severus didn't even care that his boyfriend was a vampire or that his mouth was dangerously close to his arteries, he loved Avery and he was sure he would be perfectly safe with him.

"I know" Severus breathed. "I never knew it was so good to top, perhaps I'll have to try again sometime" he winked.

Avery laughed and pulled the boy in closer for a proper cuddle as he stroked the hair from his face. "You most definitely will, babe"

They lay in silence for a good while, perhaps around fifty minutes after sex just smiling to one another, kissing and enjoying each other's company before someone finally decided to speak.

"Severus?"

"Mm?" Severus looked up into those very warm brown eyes.

"You don't mind me being a vampire, do you?" Avery asked quietly as he stroked his fingers through Severus' hair.

"Not at all as long as you don't mind me being a human" Severus smiled warmly.

Avery just chuckled. "Mind it? I love it"

"And not just because I always smell of food?" Severus teased playfully.

Avery just laughed. "No not just because of that" he smiled. "Although having a boyfriend that smells so delicious is a lot of fun in itself, maybe sometime I will have to... eat you out" he breathed his hand cupping Severus' bare bottom.

The boy's eyebrows rose into his hairline with surprise. "Oh?"

Avery smirked and cuddled in even closer. "I'd love to kiss you so intimately in such a secret place" he whispered sending shivers down Severus' spine.

"Now I definitely like the sound of that" the smaller boy grinned. "Hmm I suppose I'd have to wait until the baby was born before I could do you..." he said almost sadly.

"Not at all, I'm not the same as you are, remember?" Avery chuckled.

Severus looked a little taken aback "So you don't have to..."

"Nope" Avery flashed a grin wide enough to show his fangs. "You'd be surprised at what I can and don't need to do but for tonight I think you should sleep on all the info I've already given you and this weekend I will show you what I can really do" he breathed leaning down and kissing Severus softly on the lips.

"Okay" Severus yawned his mouth folding into the perfect o as he did so. "I love you, always remember that"

"I will and I love you too" Avery smiled. He stayed awake long enough himself to watch Severus drift off rather quickly into a warm, comfortable sleep. Well tonight had gone better than he'd planned it to for sure he just hoped Severus would be excited to see him really perform his vampire shit out in the open and it not terrify him or traumatise him for life. "Thank you" he whispered before settling down into a sleep of his own.

The next morning Severus woke being smothered in kisses, he groaned and smiled to himself as his eyes fluttered open. "Morning" he whispered still with his thumb in his mouth and the other hidden under the covers.

"Good morning, Severus" Avery breathed. "Sleep well?"

"Better than ever before" Severus smiled. "How about you?"

Avery smiled. "Very well thank you so how about we have a cuddle, get up, have some food and then maybe I can show you some stuff?" he suggested.

Severus grinned and nodded very eagerly. "I'd love that"

They lay in bed together for quite some time talking and listening to what the other guys were doing in the dormitory before they finally decided to get up and pull on some comfy weekend clothes. When they slipped out from behind their curtains the other boys looked over at them.

"Have a nice bum last night?" Mulciber said casually as he pulled his own clothes on.

"Yup" Severus smirked playfully patting his boyfriend on the arse.

Mulciber wasn't silly his eyes flickered and he started to laugh. "So you took it up the crapper"

Avery shot him one of those disapproving looks. "You're charming but long story short, yeah I did, what of it?"

"Nothing" Mulciber shrugged casually.

"What are you up to today?"

"We're just going to hang out and maybe take a walk" Avery said slowly. "You?"

"Ah nothing much just gonna hang in the common room with the other's I think" he yawned stretching his arms above his head.

Following that little chat they got up, dressed and made their way down for some breakfast. Severus couldn't help feeling excited at the thought of what was going to happen today, he would finally see his boyfriend for what he really was, a vampire. He would see him hunting and using his skills and Severus had never witnessed anything like that before, he knew it was a little dangerous but he loved and trusted Avery enough to know he wouldn't hurt him. The idea, however, would take some getting used to.

They ate quite happily and when they were done they hurried off into the grounds. When they passed the courtyard, Avery pulled Severus' scarf and his thick layers around him better.

"I guess for you it is cold out here" he smiled gently.

"You're not cold?" Severus quirked an eyebrow.

"Severus, I'm a monster, I hardly feel the cold"

"You're not a monster" Severus breathed poking his chest.

"Yes I am and what you'll see of me today, please don't be disgusted with me, I can't help it..." Avery said his voice soft and quiet, it surprised Severus just how worried he seemed to be. Severus knew his boyfriend would be killing something and that he would drink blood today, that was a given and there was no way to avoid it.

"I won't" Severus smiled as they took hands and began creeping along a trail towards the forest.

Severus had never been this way before nor had he actually been into the Forbidden Forest. He followed along behind Avery noting how his boyfriend seemed to be excellent at stealth work despite the fact he was with his pregnant, human boyfriend as they made their way into the forest. Severus felt nervous as they actually went inside especially seeing as they went far enough in that they could no longer see the edge of the grounds at all.

"Don't worry" Avery whispered. "Nothing will come and hurt you while I'm around"

Severus blinked but still looked worried.

"Monsters usually in general leave other monsters alone" he smiled his explanation. "Especially when that monster could tear their throat out and watch them die"

Severus chuckled softly. "But you're too sweet for that"

"But they don't know that" Avery winked playfully. "Now, are you ready to see what I can do?" he breathed.

"I'm ready" Severus whispered.

Avery smiled softly and leaned down to kiss him on the lips, Severus watched him draw back slowly and take a few steps back closing his eyes. He inhaled deeply a few times and Severus remained quiet and rooted to the spot unsure of what else to do.

Avery suddenly took off like a bolt of lightning through the trees, he was also near silent which shocked Severus but the boy stood watching the exact place he had disappeared through.

Only a few seconds went by before a cry sounding like that or a woodland creature or perhaps a small cow echoed through the air and before Severus realised what was happening an enormous stag flew through the bushes but the split second it landed, Avery leapt on it.

Severus gasped when he saw the antlers ram into Avery but the boy didn't even seem to notice them, he didn't cut nor did he bleed. Severus stood rooting to the spot watching Avery grab a good hold of the antlers and he yanked.

A horrible snap sounded as the boy broke the animals neck and threw it to the ground. He looked up to Severus whom swallowed with his eyes wide especially when he caught the look on his boyfriend's face. His eyes were hardly brown at all anymore the iris' were almost completely and entirely blood red.

"Blood" Avery whispered and dropped to his knees, he clawed over to the dead stag, pulled its head back and sank his fangs deep into its throat and began to drain it.

Severus felt a little nauseated, he scuffed his feet on the ground and continued to watch with some level of difficulty as his boyfriend kept drinking until the stag was drained dry of all the blood in its body.

When he was done (and it didn't take all that long) Avery released the stag and it slumped over its tongue hanging out of its mouth as he drew himself upright. "Something will come along and eat that later perhaps" he said casually without looking at Severus.

Severus knew his boyfriend was worried and very nervous about what his reaction would be after seeing that but despite everything, Severus still loved him and slowly he made his way forward stopping just in front of his boyfriend, he embraced him slowly and soon felt Avery's arms return that gesture.

Avery sighed softly and cuddled Severus in closer burying his face in his neck. "I love you"

"I love you too" Severus whispered. "Are you okay now?"

Avery nodded. "How did it feel to see that?" he asked drawing back enough to look into Severus' dark eyes.

Severus swallowed noticing Avery's eyes were slowly turning to amber and then they would return to their normal warm brown colour. "Just fine, it's what you needed and you proved you could do it without hurting me"

"I know" Avery breathed. "So you don't think of me as disgusting or anything then?"

"No" Severus whispered shaking his head slightly. "You're my boyfriend and I'll love you no matter what, you might be a vampire but I understand that and I know you need blood and it doesn't disgust or repel me"

"Good because I'd hate for it to upset you or anything" Avery breathed snuggling Severus close again. They stayed like that for a little while. "Mind if I catch something else?"

"Go ahead" Severus smiled stepping back. Avery smiled to him before closing his eyes again and stalking around the little space they were in until he finally stopped, opened his eyes and dashed through the trees.

Severus waited for about a minute before Avery came back dragging some form of wild cat through the trees, they had studied them in Care of Magical Creatures in second year, they were like Hinkypunk's only they lured people into the forests to kill and eat them rather than into bogs.

He slumped the dead animal on the floor and was down at its side in an instant his fangs sinking deep into its neck. Severus watched curiously as he drank and drank and drank the blood. It was hard to watch he would admit that, it was his boyfriend after all and the one he, until last night, thought of as a normal human being.

When it was drained, Avery strained up and licked his lips clean before looking to Severus again but this time his eyes were normal and calm.

"That's a lot of blood" Severus chuckled nervously.

Avery just smiled. "I was thirsty"

There was a glimmer of cool winter sunshine through the trees, Avery looked to it and smiled. "You want to see what I do in the sunlight?"

Severus' eyes widened. "Be careful and don't hurt yourself!" he said worriedly.

Avery chuckled. "Relax" he said simply and raised his hand into the light stepping further into it. Severus went to jump forward but soon stopped when he realised Avery's skin was turning paler and glimmering or perhaps even giving off a faint crystal-like twinkle in the sunlight. The taller boy sighed happily and relaxed turning to Severus.

Severus gasped and stared at him, Avery looked beautiful but terrifying. His hair seemed to be lashings of shades darker, his skin was so strange, his eyes so powerful and vibrant and his fangs were on show. He didn't look like outstandingly beautiful Avery he looked like an outstandingly beautiful vampire. He looked terrifying but so beautiful. Anybody who looked at him wouldn't need to look twice to know there was something abnormal going on, that he was something other than a human. Severus smiled again, swallowed and stepped forward embracing Avery into his arms, he knew he must look simply horrendous compared to him and if people saw them now they would probably assume that Severus was the monster rather than Avery but he didn't care, he loved him and trusted him.

"You're beautiful" Severus whispered.

"I'm scary, grr" Avery laughed playfully.

Severus couldn't help but chuckle over this. "You're my kind of scary"

"Oh yeah?" Avery quirked an eyebrow, Severus looked up into his face and grinned. Avery may not look the way he normally did but he was still the same person he had been before.

"Yeah" Severus smirked in an almost playfully challenging way.

Avery looked thoughtful for a second and before Severus realised what he had done, Avery grabbed him into his arms bridal style and was tearing through the trees.

Severus yelped with surprise and clung onto his boyfriend so tightly as they raced through parts of the forest Severus was sure that humans had rarely if ever been to before. The birds took off from the trees a moment too late, it was deathly silent the animals and creatures were disappearing before Avery could even get there, they obviously thought he would kill and eat them.

"Gods you're strong and fast" Severus said quickly.

Avery just laughed and leapt high into the trees, Severus cried out with panic as they continued to race through the forest through the treetops, he genuinely felt as though he were flying the speed they were going through and the way Avery could jump and land so gracefully barely even feeling it.

They finally came to a stop when they lowered down the branches and landed on the ground softly so he didn't jolt his bump around at all.

Slowly Avery allowed Severus back onto his feet, the boy was laughing.

"That was a bit crazy"

"Mm but did you like it?" Avery asked excitedly, now he was standing in the shadows again he looked like normal Avery, not scary Avery.

"It was amazing" Severus grinned. "You're extremely agile"

"I know, I never could have done that as a human but now I'm a vampire I can do whatever the hell I like" Avery practically squeaked with excitement. "I've got so much speed and agility, I'm so strong now I can break stuff like rocks without hurting myself, I can smash right through a wall and feel no pain at all and not even have a mark on my skin as proof"

Severus smiled warmly. "It sounds amazing"

"But obviously there's a darker side and that's the painful thirst, the blood lust the general feelings of being a vampire, the fact I'm not a normal human and people will be terrified of me and shun me if they knew, the fact I could so easily hurt you and the desire to kill things and even humans, I've never thought about or wanted to kill you of course but other people about and the way they smell and the way they must taste and the blood it makes me want to attack them but I'm fortunate enough to be able to control myself, many people can't" he swallowed.

"I know you do and I know you feel those things but you know you won't hurt me or anyone else, you're strong emotionally and you've been coping with this for months so well" Severus said reassuringly.

"I know I have, I've done fantastically and I'll admit that, even as a newborn I've been so good and I've never once tried to hurt or kill anybody and I've been surrounded by food" Avery smiled back.

"You're amazing" Severus breathed leaning in and kissing him softly on the cheek. "After seeing you like this no wonder the blood made you run out of the room a few days ago..."

"Yeah I wanted to drink it but I couldn't and it was making me thirsty, it was just too much and I had to get out of there and I knew I could play it off that I felt sick or something because I'm afraid of blood, which obviously I'm not" Avery chuckled.

A few drops of water began to splash down through the trees.

"Rain" Severus said simply.

"Let's get you back in the castle" Avery nodded pulling Severus' hood up. Severus was surprised how he seemed to blindly lead them without any hesitation what so ever through the trees and out of the forest, they didn't stop even as they hurried through the grounds as the rain started to really come down. They only stopped, a bit damp and such in the entrance hall smiling to one another.

"Let's get you in some warm, dry clothes" Avery chuckled running his fingers through Severus' hair.

By the time they bathed and pulled on some clean lazy day clothes (and Avery had brushed his teeth) they were lounging in the dormitory gazing at one another lovingly, Avery pressed soft, tender kisses to Severus' warm fingers.

"It was good to see you like that" Severus breathed gazing into his boyfriend's soft eyes.

Avery just smiled. "Was it what you were expecting?"

"I don't know" Severus said quietly. "I wasn't sure what to expect, I wasn't expecting you to come along and drink blood from a wine glass wearing a cape and burning in the sun but I was expecting something a bit more horrific than what I saw" he admitted shyly.

Avery burst out laughing. "People often don't understand the vampire or they confuse us with something else" he sighed. "They often see us as savages and true some of us are but most aren't, real vampires are quite rare so the chances of vampire attack are fairly slim"

Severus just smiled. "Especially from you" he breathed.

For the rest of the day they spent it snuggled up together, they went down for lunch and Avery only had a light one mostly warm chips because he'd already had a lot of blood and Severus noticed just how calm and relaxed he really was even when the Marauders were shooting him vile death glares.

Sunday arrived and they couldn't stop cuddling. Instead of doing homework or anything the two of them were canoodling all day long.

"Why are you two so into each other today? You're even worse than usual" Evan blinked as they curled up on the bed with Avery gently stroking Severus' growing baby bump.

"We've just been having a good weekend is all" Severus smiled graciously.

"Fair enough" Evan said narrowing his eyes suspiciously.

"Can't keep their hands off of each other for five minutes" Mulciber muttered as he passed them.

"We haven't had sex or done anything sexy since Friday so don't start" said Avery casually as he tucked Severus in under the nice warm covers.

Severus waited until the boy was far enough away before he said anything. "Are you going to tell them about... you know..." he breathed.

Avery shrugged. "In time but not just yet I wanna wait a little while longer first, especially with Mulciber because he's a bit...you know"

Severus swallowed and nodded slowly. He knew exactly what Mulciber could be like.

Sunday passed and by the time they fell into bed that evening they were both extremely happy.

The next morning when Severus woke he yawned pulling his hands away from their usual places and stretched under the covers looking to a still sleeping Avery.

"Nineteen weeks today" he breathed gently brushing some of the hairs from his boyfriend's face.

There was a moment before Avery stirred and opened his bright eyes slowly to gaze at Severus. "Morning, babe" he said stretching himself out under the covers.

"Nineteen weeks!" Severus squeaked excitedly watching Avery's face spread into an enormous grin.

"I know, time flies" he chuckled. "So, what are you waiting for?"

Severus blinked confusedly.

"Get out that book and let's read some about the baby" Avery breathed.

Severus smiled, turned over and grabbed the book from his bedside table, he flipped it to the correct page and began to read aloud:

"_Baby has done a good amount of growing this week or so and now measures seven inches in length and weighs eleven ounces" _he began.

"_Congratulations you're halfway through your pregnancy now and should be entering your second trimester in the next two weeks. You may start to notice the increase in your sex drive that will be on the up as you grow (no pun intended) the bigger you get, the more increased your desire becomes which will be good news for your partner!" _Severus blushed furiously.

"I think you've already got that sexy little problem" Avery chuckled. "Carry on"

"_There is no need to worry however as engaging in sexual intercourse of all types is perfectly safe in pregnancy just remember your hygiene and be careful of the baby bump" _he read on. _"By now the baby itself looks like a mini version of what he or she will be like when they're born and will be capable of performing plenty of little tricks inside of you which if you're lucky enough you'll already be able to feel" _

"You can feel him moving" Avery smiled warmly.

Severus just grinned. "I know" he breathed and cleared his throat a little before continuing to read on _"Baby can also yawn or suck his or her thumb plenty easily enough by now and you may even catch a glimpse of it on a scan" _

"_Also around this week the foetal bone marrow starts producing red blood cells which was previously done in the liver and the spleen" _

"Interesting" Avery commented with a nod.

"_Also your baby is practicing eating by using the amniotic fluid around him or her which has all this time been used for cushioning the baby, it might sound unpleasant to you but it's extremely important that the baby does this to make sure he or she can eat when they arrive in little over four months. The baby is able to digest some of the sugars from the fluid which is essential in later life" _

"_Now is also a good time to decorate the baby's room, you should be feeling much better by now and will continue to do so over the coming weeks of your pregnancy" _Severus concluded with a smile and closed the book over.

"That was fun" Avery grinned. "Wow, just think, this time next week you'll be five months pregnant and we'll have another proper little scan where we can see him" he sighed pushing his hand under the covers to stroke Severus' bump which did seem to have grown a little bit over the past few days.

"The book is right though, I am feeling kind of really horny"

"Kind of really horny, eh?" Avery laughed. "Mm I don't mind that at all"

"So perhaps later on we can have some fun together then?" Severus asked hopefully.

"Perhaps we can" Avery winked with a smirk playing on his face.

A little while later and they were up, dressed and heading down to the great hall for breakfast. When they arrived in the great hall they dropped down into their seats quite happily and tucked into some food.

"You can smash my back doors in if you like" Severus said casually whilst they were eating.

Avery almost choked on his drink. "Now?!"

Severus laughed. "Later on" his eyes fell half lidded as he gazed at his boyfriend lovingly.

"Mm I think that would be a little more appropriate, I don't really fancy so many people watching us make love" Avery chuckled playfully.

Severus' heart fluttered at the last part. "Sweet"

"Sexy" Avery smiled pecking Severus on the nose.

When they were done eating they headed off to their first lesson, potions, quite happily.

As they were standing outside the usual happened and the Marauders made their approach.

"Pair of nasty faggots" James grumbled as he shoved past Severus making the boy stumble.

Avery didn't hesitate to lash out and grab the boy by the arm turning him around very roughly making him gasp with the pain. Avery was very strong. "Watch where you're going" he said coldly.

"Fuck off" James said trying to shake him off but he couldn't even move Avery's arm.

"Watch your mouth as well, need I remind you what happened the last time you started on us?" Avery said in a dangerously low voice.

James' eyes flickered a moment with fear.

Avery didn't miss it and smirked nastily. "I knew you were pathetic but I didn't realise quite how much"

"Let go of me you queer I don't want to have sex with you!" James said loud enough for everyone to hear.

Remus stood scowling angrily at James, Sirius looked surprised and Peter looked almost giddy with excitement and anticipation. What would happen next.

Severus laughed. "You really think he'd want to have sex with you?" he quirked an eyebrow.

"Shut up nobody is talking to you, you piece of filth!" James spat nastily.

"Nah mate, don't worry he's only getting hard because he's got his boyfriend and his sad little friends with him, if he can hide behind this nut job" he said sizing Avery up. "Then he thinks we can't touch him"

Avery flung James back into the opposite wall glaring him down, James seemed to shrink in size drastically when Avery leered him down. "You will apologise to Severus and you will leave us both alone, you will not touch him, say things about him or bring any harm to him you fucking animal"

"What makes you think you can tell him what to do?" Peter piped up.

"Too right" it was Sirius whom didn't seem quite as worried about this as James was.

Severus on the other hand knew better, he knew what Avery was capable of and he thought it amusing that the Marauders par Remus would be so stupid as to challenge him even if they didn't know he was a vampire. Avery was too strong, fast and dangerous for them to be messing about with and he could very easily do them some serious damage.

"Apologise" Avery barked.

The whole corridor had fallen silent to listen to the fighting.

James was silly enough to remain silent.

"Do it or you know what will happen to you" Avery said his eyes burning holes in James' skin. "What you saw the last time you messed with me was absolutely nothing, this time you'll really be in for it, you have no idea what or who you're messing with, so apologise now and we can leave it in peace"

James hesitated a moment and glanced over to where Lily was standing scowling at him with her arms folded across her chest. "Sorry" he mumbled gruffly.

"What was that?"

"I said sorry" James mumbled again.

"Say it so Severus can hear you" Avery pressed.

"I'm sorry for pushing you, Snape" James said his eyes flickering from Avery to the smaller boy for just a second.

Severus nodded once with something like acceptance. "Fine"

"Good boy" Avery smirked backing away from James without a single ounce of fear, a nasty grin spread across his face although Severus knew he was still covering his fangs with his lips. It would be a nightmare and a half gone wrong if they realised what he was...

Professor Slughorn arrived just as James was straightening himself up and dusting off his clothes scowling angrily at Avery whom still looked very pleased with himself.

The class filed in and Avery took Severus' hand and they strolled in together again, dropping into their seats they pulled out their things and set to work on the writing task on the board just like everyone else was doing.

Severus sighed happily and rested his hands on his bump taking a break from his work about half an hour into the double period.

"Everything okay?" Avery asked with a slight crease between his brows.

"Yeah I can just feel the baby kicking is all, he's really doing some round offs in there" Severus chuckled. "Have a feel" he breathed taking Avery's hand and resting it on his bump under the clothes.

Avery's face spread into an enormous grin. "Wow I can actually feel him" he breathed. "He's really having a good go at you in there, isn't he?"

Severus nodded with a warm smile plastered across his face. "He is, just proves how much he's grown"

"Not hurting you though is he?"

"Nope" Severus sighed happily his own hand massaging the baby bump.

"Ew he's getting all fat and disgusting" a blonde girl commented.

Avery looked over his shoulder and shot the Gryffindor a nasty look. "He's pregnant, what's your excuse?"

The girl scowled at him and flushed a tiny bit. "I'm not fat"

"You aren't exactly skinny either" Avery shot back.

"Shut up, just because he's your boyfriend, if he weren't you'd be calling him fat like the rest of the school does" she retorted.

Avery quirked an eyebrow and rolled his eyes. "Jealous?"

"I'm not jealous of that!" she spat.

Avery just laughed and turned away from her. "She's pathetic, don't listen to people like that"

"I love how you're not intimidated by any of these people" Severus said his eyes sparkling with admiration.

"Yeah well, you know me" Avery winked. "I have nothing to be afraid of"

Severus smiled warmly and gently squeezed Avery's hand.

"It's Valentines day soon, fancy doing anything special?" Avery asked brightly as they carried on with their school work.

Severus just smirked. "You"

Avery couldn't help but laugh. "Yes but I was thinking maybe a nice date or something?"

"Sounds good to me" said Severus. "You can pick what we do, I think you're a little better with this whole romance thing than I am to be honest..."

By the end of potions they were thankful to get out on a break even if the lesson really wasn't all that straining. As they were leaving the corridor and walking out into the courtyard for a little while, the Marauders brushed past them again.

"WHOOPS SORRY SNIVELLUS, DID I TOUCH YOU AGAIN?!" James said loudly flinging his hands in this air. "Gonna dance about and play hurt again?"

"Nah maybe he'll set his boyfriend on you" Sirius laughed loudly.

People were staring and Severus glared squeezing Avery's hand telling him not to do anything.

"Excuse me" Remus said quietly as he brushed past Avery.

Avery's head turned sharp and he stared at Lupin, not in an overly aggressive way but a blank, strange stare with glittering eyes.

Severus frowned, what was going on now?

They remained frozen, Lupin staring confusedly and suspiciously at Avery and Avery getting that slightly peculiar, almost knowing expression on his face. Like he wanted to do something but Severus wasn't sure what, he'd seen a similar expression just the other day when the boy was hunting but surely he wasn't going to suddenly attack Remus right here in front of all of these witnesses...

Slowly the zoning seemed to relax and Lupin walked past to stand close to his friends whom looked just as confused as Severus and without another word they walked away crowding around Remus a little.

"Did he hurt you, Moony?" Sirius asked worriedly.

"No he didn't even touch me" Remus said quickly looking slightly shaken.

"Don't worry he can't hurt you or we'll seriously hex his bollocks into the next century" said James resting a hand on Remus' shoulder.

"I'll bet that creep knows he can't touch us so he's going to attack you next" Sirius said firmly as he glanced back over his shoulder to see Avery turn and embrace Severus lovingly. He wrinkled his nose with pure and utter disgust.

Remus vaguely listened to his friends talking as they walked away, something about the way the Slytherin had looked at him was worrying it was almost as if he knew something about Remus that he didn't want anyone else to know. Could he have found out? Remus swallowed nervously, he himself sensed something off when he walked past the boy, Werewolf senses and all that jazz, he wasn't fully certain what it was but he was sure there was something different about that boy they called Avery...

"What was that all about?" Severus finally asked when they had disappeared out of earshot.

Avery swallowed and pushed a smile. "Nothing, nothing at all" he breathed.

Severus didn't believe him. "Something is wrong I can tell..."

Avery hesitated before looking into Severus' eyes, he pursed his lips warily like he wanted to say something but he just couldn't.

"Please tell me" Severus said sadly. "Don't hide anything from me"

Avery hesitated again before he shuffled in closer and glanced around to make sure nobody could hear what they were saying.

"Well you know when that Lupin boy brushed past me?"

Severus nodded.

"I could _smell _him..." Avery said slowly.

Severus blinked. "You mean like his penis or something?" he frowned confusedly.

Avery shook his head firmly. "Severus if I tell you what I know please don't scream or say anything..."

"Okay..." Severus replied hesitantly. "What's wrong with him?"

"He's a Werewolf" Avery whispered.

"A Werewolf?!" Severus gasped his eyes flashing to where he could see the Marauders standing talking and laughing. "Are you sure?"

"I can smell it off of him, I can smell blood without anyone needing to bleed, for example I can smell yours right now..." Avery swallowed gazing to the throbbing pulse in Severus' neck.

Severus nodded slowly with understanding. "Okay but how can you tell he's a Werewolf"

"Monsters can sense other monsters, I can smell what people are, their blood is different, he's the only Werewolf I've scented in the school, I've scented very minor Veela blood, Goblin, Centaurs from the forest, half-giant and such..."

Severus' eyes widened. "Does that mean he knows what you are?"

Avery shook his head slowly with a frown. "I'm not sure, I don't think so, he isn't transformed, when he transforms under the full moon he would obviously know what I am but he probably wouldn't remember it, but now he might know I'm something but not exactly what, he's not a new Werewolf I can smell it's settled in him, he's been like that good a good few years..."

Severus swallowed and nodded slowly. "He's dangerous"

"So am I"

"No, you can control yourself, he loses his human mind"

"I don't even have a human mind" Avery sighed sadly. "I know this sounds bad but I don't think you should be prejudice against him because that would make you prejudice against me..."

"But you aren't a Werewolf" Severus said quickly.

"I know but I'm also a monster, a dangerous one that could kill everybody just like that" he snapped his fingers sharply.

"I'm not prejudice against him I just think we've won" Severus said with a smile.

"That's good and what do you mean?" Avery frowned confusedly.

Severus' face spread into an enormous smirk. "We know something about him, about them that they don't want us to know about, we don't have to tell anyone of what we know but we have to make them think we will"

Avery's face lit up with the sudden realisation of what Severus meant. "We can get them to back off once and for all..."

"Precisely" Severus breathed a smirk still splitting his face.

Avery's smile turned into a beaming grin. "Severus Snape, I like your thinking"

Severus chuckled and draped his arms around Avery's shoulders. "I love you so much"

"I love you so much too, gorgeous" Avery grinned pulling the smaller boy in for a kiss which soon turned quite passionate. They didn't care if people were staring, not even when the Marauders turned to glare at them par Remus because when they both looked up their eyes rested on Remus, smirks still playing on their faces.

"His heart rate has picked up, he's worried about us" Avery said quietly.

Severus just chuckled and rested his cheek against his boyfriend's chest. "He shouldn't be, but at the same time this is a hell of a lot of fun"

"Indeed it is, Severus, indeed it is" Avery breathed resting his own cheek on the top of Severus' silky black head.

They watched as Remus slowly turned away and swallowed now looking extremely worried. Now they had this whole Marauders nonsense in the bag...

...


	13. Chapter 13

"Vampires" said Professor Averis drawing a line under the white chalked word on the blackboard. "Are what this lesson is about today" he said turning to face everyone watching the excited expressions on their faces.

Severus and Avery exchanged looks.

"Vampires are monsters of the undead, impeccably strong, fast and agile they can move at speeds over four times that of a human can, they can crush stone with their bare hands and see completely through the dark"

"He's got something right at least" Avery muttered.

"How does one recognise a vampire? Do any of you have any ideas?" he asked glancing hopefully around the classroom.

Severus looked to Avery who smiled and he slowly raised his hand.

"Yes, Severus" he said nodding towards the boy.

"Vampires appear mostly as human's, they are similar physically only a vampire can be told apart by their outstanding physical beauty" he said slowly.

"Yes that's correct, ten points to Slytherin" he man grinned. There was a murmur of excitement and Mulciber clapped him gently on the back making his glow with delight.

"Vampires are exceedingly beautiful, elegant and attractive beings, everything about them lures you in and that's how they trap humans. They don't need to hunt them like they're built to do physically but with most they will be drawn in by their smell, their beauty and their voice, it's almost like an aphrodisiac especially when the person is of the opposite sex"

Severus looked to Avery and smirked, a deeper blush creeping across his face.

"Now is there anything else about their appearance that might signal a vampire?" he went on glancing around the classroom again.

A girl in the front row raised her hand. "Vampires are always pale even if they're dark skinned, dark skinned vampires are less common but they exist" she said slowly.

"Very good, pale, any other's?"

"Red eyes" Sirius Black said quickly.

"Yes vampire's do indeed have red iris'" the teacher smiled. "What about their skin?"

"Cold?" Lily chirped up.

"Yes, vampire skin is of a lower temperature than that of a human" the man nodded. "They also do not appear in the mirror as they have no reflection it's all to do with parts of the soul"

Avery was sitting smirking with Severus.

"You should correct him" Severus whispered.

"If I do then people would only need to take one look at me right now to become suspicious" the boy whispered back.

"Although, your skin is a little cooler than average but you're still warm and cuddly" Severus said quietly and Avery just smiled again.

"But be warned, not everybody who is outstandingly beautiful, pale and such is a vampire, there are exceptions but general behaviour of a vampire is not the same as that of a human, they are slightly more animalistic, quieter, they stand off and they're extremely protective of not only themselves but their vampire mate too"

Avery squeezed Severus' thigh under the table.

"Vampires very rarely ever mate with a human, they often do not even live near humans and only go near them to feed from them, occasionally a vampire may fall in love with a human provided they have enough physical control to prevent them biting the human and drinking their blood" the teacher went on. "Vampires are however, capable of having physical and sexual relationships and can be either male or female so be warned in case it happens to you" he said very seriously.

Severus said trying to suppress a smirk, this guy had very little idea about vampire's, especially about dating them.

"On the other hand vampires are rare and the chances any of you will ever encounter one are very slim, vampires are also immortal beings that will never die" he went on.

For the rest of the lesson they sat taking notes, Severus and Avery smirking to one another each time they came across something inaccurate.

By the end of the lesson they went out for lunch hand in hand quite happily.

Severus watched very curiously as Avery ate his light lunch. "Do you need to feed again?" he whispered quietly.

"Not now" Avery smiled gently. "I had so much blood before but I will need some again soon to remain as calm as I am"

Severus noticed how warm and soft Avery's eyes looked he really did look very calm. "You look really nice today, really happy too"

Avery smiled warmly. "Thank you, Severus, and you look lovely too" he breathed kissing him softly on the lips.

When they finished eating they headed back to the common room to relax before their afternoon lessons.

By the end of the day the two boys were finally happy to clamber into bed together.

"Are you sure about Lupin?" Severus asked quietly as they pulled the drapes closed around their bed.

"Definitely" Avery breathed. "I always thought I could smell something about the castle but there are so many people, different people with different blood and there are other things besides a Werewolf here, but I can scent him and when he brushed by me I could smell it off of him he was honking of wolf"

Severus swallowed. "Will he be afraid of you?"

"I don't know, I'm not going to hurt him but I think he'd be more worried about me exposing him than anything else provided he's sure that I know"

"You said something about him sensing you too"

"Yeah, after that lesson I'm pretty sure he knows what I am" Avery sighed.

"I don't think you should hurt him no matter what happens" Severus said slowly.

"I'm not going to, Sev" Avery chuckled. "I know you're worried about me being kicked out of school if anything happens"

"How did you-"

"It's a vampire thing" Avery winked playfully. "Anyway, how about we have a cuddle now?"

Severus grinned and snuggled closer as Avery started pressing kisses along his jawline and down his neck. Severus moaned and tilted his head back exposing the pale column of his slender throat.

Avery moaned sinking his teeth into his bottom lip and Severus could see his fangs showing as he gazed lovingly at the pulse point of the boy's throat, that soft little _ka-thump_ each time his heart continued to beat. Avery leaned in closer running the tip of his nose along that main artery inhaling deeply and moaning with pleasure. "I fucking love your smell"

"My blood" Severus whispered.

"Mm it's hot and tangy and delicious but I would never drink it"

"You can if you want to, you have my permission" Severus breathed.

Avery hesitated a moment. "Not while you're pregnant"

"So you would bite me?" Severus whispered arching a little into his boyfriend's touch as the boy started massaging his hands over his body.

"If I bite you, if my fangs puncture your skin they will draw blood and my venom will change you" he replied kissing Severus' collar bone and listening to his steadily beating heart. Severus didn't seem afraid at all, Avery couldn't sense any, if anything more than normal he could sense excitement.

"Then…. One day when I've had the baby you should do it" Severus breathed so lightly. "You should change me..."

Avery froze and looked up into Severus' face, those lovely, unusual dark swirling eyes, his pale skin that Avery's sharpened eyesight could read every little vein under the skin and trace them delicately. Severus was a sweet, innocent human, was he really going to be ready to go through a vampire transformation? If Severus changed he wouldn't be the innocent little human anymore, he would be an innocent vampire but he would be wild, bloodthirsty, dangerous and different. But on the other hand, if Severus really made the choice, if he chose to be a vampire and elected to be changed it was a different story and it really would be the only way they could be together forever. Severus was a human and he would age, Avery would mature enough to get away with being a seventeen or eighteen year old but apart from that he wouldn't grow up, he wouldn't age and he wouldn't die. "Provided you still feel the same way when you're ready to change, then I will bite you" he breathed leaning down for a tender kiss.

Severus smiled and moaned softly allowing his boyfriend to run his moist lips up and down his throat.

Avery's fangs were throbbing, he wanted to sink them deep into Severus' throat but he wouldn't do that, he was safe, he was a good vampire and he would never hurt Severus. He smiled and very gently grazed them against the skin so lightly they didn't even cut it no matter how sharp they were. Severus was just so warm, so beautiful and so willing...

He pulled back slowly and smiled at Severus before moving over and laying down beside him on his tummy gazing at the smaller boy. Severus swallowed and smiled warmly rolling onto his side to face him.

"Baby is kicking" Severus breathed and Avery's hand shot down to stroke gently over his tummy.

"You're getting bigger now, soon you'll be really pregnant and ready to have the baby, just a few more months" Avery smiled warmly. "Little over four in fact"

Severus nodded. "Doesn't seem that far ahead when you think about it to be honest" he swallowed. "Although, I am still nervous" he blushed a little.

"Might I say that I do enjoy seeing you blush?" Avery chuckled softly.

"I've hardly seen you blush..." Severus said quietly.

"And why do you think that might be?" Avery breathed.

"Because you... vampire..." Severus breathed.

"A monster" Avery growled playfully settling back down beside his lover. "Now I think it's time you got some proper sleep or you won't be able to function properly tomorrow"

"I feel like a little kid again" Severus laughed curling up in his boyfriend's strong chest.

Avery just laughed and kissed Severus one last time. "I love you so much, gorgeous"

"I love you too" Severus breathed. It wasn't long before they were both fast asleep wrapped in each other's arms.

The next day arrived and throughout lessons it seemed to Remus kept sparing them almost worried glances every soft often, he would also shift in his seat uncomfortably and if either of the boys (particularly Avery) looked at him then his eyes would dart away and he would become even more tense.

"He's afraid of us" Avery whispered. "Not just me but you as well"

"Me?" Severus frowned. "Why would he be afraid of me? Surely he knows I'm fully human…."

Avery chuckled softly his warm eyes sparkling with delight. "He thinks I've told you about what he is, he's obviously worried that we might tell people what he is…. That we might expose him" he breathed that night as they slipped into bed together.

"But we're not" said Severus simply.

"I know that but he doesn't" Avery smirked slightly.

Severus squirmed in his seat grinning at his lover. "I am rather enjoying having this effect on him, maybe now he will pluck up the fucking courage to rein in those awful friends on his and get them to leave us alone"

"That James Potter" Avery growled. "I hate him so much, Black too but I think he does it mainly for attention and just because Potter is doing it"

"Yeah, Potter is more of the ringleader" Severus nodded. "How do you stop someone like him?"

"Cut away his pathetic little followers, frighten him and show people what he's really like, if we can get Lupin to take control of them like he should be doing in the first place then who knows? Maybe we'll be left in peace" Avery smiled gently caressing the side of Severus' face.

Severus smiled to him. "I don't know about that, it is James Potter we're talking about here…."

Avery just smiled to him again and gently pushed Severus down into the soft bedding. "Let's forget about him for now…." He breathed. "Let's concentrate on me and you tonight" his lips curled back showing a beaming white smile enough to flash off those deadly, venomous fangs.

Severus' lips curled into a smile and he leaned forward bringing their lips together in a tender yet so passionate kiss.

Avery moaned instantly moving to settle himself on top of Severus kissing the life out of the boy. Within seconds Severus was moaning softly and arching up into his boyfriend just loving the sensations of it all.

By the time they went to bed that night they were both very thoroughly satisfied….

Wednesday passed in an awkward blur and Remus had been acting very odd around them, it was becoming obvious to them how strange the boy was feeling and maybe even a little too nervous as he seemed very hot on his toes whenever they were near, he seemed desperate to get away from them and his friends were beginning to notice.

"My concern is that he tells his friends before anything else" Avery said glancing over at the boy whom was sitting at the Gryffindor table eating his lunch.

"Don't hurt him…." Severus said quietly.

"I am not going to hurt him" Avery smiled gently. "I'm not like that but I do think we should have a few words with him"

"What happens if he blabs?" Severus asked curiously.

"Most likely nothing" said Avery. "It's not like I'm going around biting people or drinking anyone's blood, I feed in the forest and people are none the wiser" he spoke very calmly. "I've got my thirst under control and my head straight so I would say I'm pretty harmless to most"

"What will I be like?" Severus asked quietly.

"Huh?" Avery blinked, confused.

"When you change me" Severus whispered gazing at his lover with half-lidded eyes.

Avery swallowed. "Well, if you're sure about being changed then if I did bite you then you would become a vampire, you would become even more beautiful, you would be so agile, strong, graceful and fast. People might even mistake you for a pureblood because you would have that air about you of aristocracy" he smiled gently watching the emotions of curiosity and excitement was over the human's face. "You would still be you but you would also be blood thirsty, wild, dangerous, I can't predict exactly how you'll be because everyone is different, some are much worse than others but I remember what it was like right after I was changed, I was in that forest wild for days attacking anything and everything in sight, I didn't stop, I didn't care I tried to control myself but it was a nearly impossible task" he said his eyebrows furrowing with concern.

Severus nodded slowly with understanding. "And what will you be like to me?"

"I'll still be your boyfriend, Severus" Avery laughed. "And you'll still love me"

"I won't want to fight you or attack you will I?" Severus asked with his eyebrows creasing in horrible concern.

Avery shook his head still grinning madly, this was actually turning into a pretty amusing conversation. "No, you'll actually be extremely protective over me like I am for you but because you'll be a vampire I won't be smelling your blood or anything and you won't smell me like that, Professor Averis was right about that, you will be very protective if not possessive over a vampire mate" he smiled softly.

Severus chuckled. "What about the baby?"

"He'll be fine" Avery smiled warmly. "He's our baby but you've carried him, your instincts won't allow you to hurt him because he's your little baby, you made him"

Severus smiled. "Is that what you feel about him already?"

Avery nodded quickly. "Of course, I'd do anything for both of you" he breathed leaning in for another tender kiss…

Thursday arrived in the blink of an eye and the whole school was getting ready to start the weekend again. People in lessons were feeling that Thursday strain of it not quite being Friday so they had to do the optimum amount of their work and still being tired from the rest of the week.

"I'm going to feed tonight" Avery whispered in the last lesson of the day.

Severus nodded with a smile. "Okay" he breathed. "Drink well"

"I will" Avery winked playfully.

It was at the end of the day when they were sitting on a bench chatting to one another and just hanging out when they could hear voices coming from inside one of the classrooms along the Charms corridor.

"I don't know what's wrong with you, Remus!" James Potter's voice snapped. "Get a grip you're acting like such a child this week!"

"I'm not!" Remus protested. "Just, shut up, okay?"

"No I won't shut up, don't you dare speak to me like that!" James snarled nastily. "Honestly, you need to grow up, you're acting like a brat this week for no fucking reason, what's going on with you?"

Avery and Severus exchanged slightly confused looks. They had never once heard James speaking to Remus like that at all…. Ever!

"I have a reason just leave me alone about it!" Remus groaned. "It's nothing to do with you anyway so why are you getting so upset?!"

"I'm not getting upset!" James snapped.

"I think you two need a time out" Sirius' voice echoed after them. "You're both acting like animals today"

"Fuck you, Sirius" Remus snapped and suddenly much to their surprise he came storming out of the classroom his cheeks flushed and an angry scowl plastered all over his face.

Severus caught Avery deeply inhaling the wolf's scent as he passed.

"What was all that about?" Severus whispered when the boy had gone but he knew the other two were still in the classroom and could possibly hear them chatting about their friend. Was Remus still their friend? Perhaps not now after all of this….

"Not a clue" Avery whispered. "Unless it's something to do with us and they're noticing how weird he's behaving"

Severus nodded slowly. "Possibly"

James and Sirius finally came out of the classroom looking red-faced and furious with Remus over what ever else had gone on.

"I can't believe the nerve of him!" Sirius said gruffly.

"I know, someone should teach him a lesson he'll never forget!" James spat.

They stopped dead when they saw Severus and Avery sitting staring at them blankly with a hint of curiosity in their mixed eyes.

"What the fuck are you two queers looking at?" James said coolly. "Checking out my arse or something?"

"You wish, Potter" Avery sneered being careful to keep his fangs well covered.

James looked even angrier and Sirius pretended to gag with disgust. "Pathetic" Potter said his eyes narrowing dangerously. "I feel sorry for that little brat he's carrying, growing up with parents like you, it must be so proud" he said nastily his lips quirking into that horrible, nasty smirk that made Severus' blood boil.

But before Severus could even open his mouth to say anything, Avery was on his feet and pinning the boy to the wall effortlessly with one hand. "I'd watch that grubby little mouth of yours, Potter" he snarled. "It's gotten you into plenty of trouble before now and it will no doubt get you into even more sometime soon, get a life and stop trying to ruin other people's"

James looked slightly frightened and Sirius ripped out his wand.

Avery smirked again. "Save your time and energy, Black, you're wasting it by doing that" he laughed.

An odd flush of colour crossed Sirius' face and he looked to James as though asking him what he should be doing next. James just stared right back with fear growing in his eyes.

Avery seemed to be enjoying the effect he was having on both of them. "Why don't you apologise to Severus here and be done with it?" he said nastily.

Severus was watching very calmly, he knew if they tried anything Avery could move so much faster than they ever could, he knew Avery was dangerous and he was a vampire and those two silly little boys had no fucking clue about anything, they were left in the dark.

There was an awkward pause.

"Apologise, NOW" Avery growled dangerously his eyes flashing with anger.

"Sorry, Snape…." James muttered.

"What have I told you about mumbling?" Avery shot him a twisted smile. "Speak properly so he can hear you"

"Sorry, Snape" James said.

"And you?" Avery turned casually to Sirius who glared at him hotly for a moment as though trying to defy him.

"Sorry, Snape" he said coolly.

"Good boy" Avery grinned before releasing his hold on James. He watched as the two Gryffindor's skulked off back down the corridor and smirked to himself before turning back to Severus. "Well that takes care for them" he sighed dusting off his hands and dropping back down on the bench. "Anything you feel like doing?"

Severus smiled and looked thoughtful for a moment. "How about we go and get some food?"

"Anything my Severus wants" Avery flashed a startlingly white grin.

By the time they slipped into the warm bath that night, Severus' mind was back on this afternoon.

"This may sound completely weird of me but I actually hope they don't do Lupin any damage after what we saw today" Severus said quietly as he curled up around his lover's body.

Avery just smiled. "I don't think they would, they're his closest friends"

"Yeah but look at the way they treat each other when they're pissed off" Severus said slowly.

Avery looked very thoughtful for a few more lingering moments. "Probably not our business, we shouldn't really get involved"

"I have this bad feeling, you know?" Severus said looking up into his boyfriend's face. "My hormones are making me stupid and scatty but I have this weird feeling that something is going to happen…. To Lupin namingly…." He spoke very slowly.

Avery searched Severus' face for a few moments. "Do you want to perhaps warn a Professor or something?"

"What's the use?" Severus laughed quietly. "They won't do anything just because we say so and besides they would think that we were only trying to cause trouble because we hate Potter and Black the very most"

"True" Avery nodded. "But then again they might not" he shrugged a little.

Severus sighed and curled up around his boyfriend's body. They were quiet for some time before Avery spoke again.

"Severus?"

"Mm?"

"Can I ask you an intimate question?" the boy breathed.

Severus looked up into his face trying to get some indication as to what it was. "Of course, you can ask me anything you want to"

Avery was silent for a moment. "Are you actually bothered about me being..."

Severus frowned slightly in confusion. "A vampire? Not at all!"

"No I mean…. Bothered that I'm dead…." Avery said rather sadly.

"No" Severus said instantly shaking his head a little. "You're still alive to me" he breathed resting his hand on his lover's slender chest.

"I'm technically undead but you know" Avery laughed almost nervously.

Severus liked it, it was most definitely a cute look on him. He smiled to his boyfriend very kindly. "It doesn't matter what you are because you're still mine and you're here and I love you and you can do so many amazing things, you're going to make a brilliant dad and you can really, truly protect your little family without having any problems at all because you can't die and if people knew they wouldn't DARE try anything against you. You've got all of these epic, immense abilities, you're so fast and agile and strong, you can break stone! You might be a vampire but it's amazing and I'd like to be one too"

Avery smiled warmly. "But I have no soul it was destroyed when I was changed last year"

"Oh" said Severus simply. "I think you do, you have concern for other people, you can control yourself and you know what you're doing, besides, unless you really believe in religious stuff you don't need to be concerned about moving on to a 'better place'"

"I can never move on though" Avery whispered. "And I wouldn't want to because I want to always remain here with you" he gently nuzzled the side of Severus' face.

Severus just chuckled softly and pulled his lover in for a kiss that spoke more than words could ever say.

When they drew apart Avery was ready to talk again.

"Did you know something interesting?"

"What's that?" Severus blinked.

"Anybody under the age of twenty one can become undead, but not quite as immortal as a vampire, they have to be someone who did not accept their death, someone who has a fully or partially intact soul, someone who has the intelligence and capability of understanding what happens to them, someone of Wizarding origin which does not include Muggle born so they have to be at least a half, spiritual on some level without being religious and someone who would physically be good as the living dead which excludes people who came back as ghosts as they were too old, buried within the time frame or they would not be suitable to become the living dead" he explained.

Severus looked shocked.

"The last thing that has to happen is for the person to have not been buried. The person for example could die in a cave, they would exceed the twenty one day burial rule, they must not be underground, they must not be nailed in a box of any description and they must not be mummified" Avery explained.

"Really?" Severus breathed.

Avery smiled and nodded. "Physically once they become undead they will remain as just the living dead, a body that appears as a human for around ten days they seem normal other than they're quiet, they don't eat much if at all, they don't sleep and they won't go underground like into a well or deep inside the catacombs" Avery explained. "This type of person after ten days will begin to change again"

"Again?!" Severus gasped. He'd never in his life heard terrible stories like this. "You're having a laugh, right?"

"No I'm not" Avery said seriously but with a soft expression on his face. "This all derives from religious funerals and burial ceremonies, people buried the dead in usually a six-sided coffin six feet under the ground, many of them are even buried six days after death, in some countries they are buried immediately due to disease but cooler ones like this country can wait weeks"

Severus nodded slowly with understanding. "But what do these undead…. Children…. Turn into?" he asked quietly.

Avery looked him straight in the eye. "A variety of dark creatures, monsters in other words" he said slowly.

"Vampires?"

"That's rare" said Avery. "However they usually becoming things like Ghouls, women often become Succubi but in recent years certain males have known to become them too especially if they are feminine or very strongly homosexual" he went on. "They can also become immortal living bodies, spirit faeries which are similar to ghosts, they're magic and they are just like normal faeries only they live for dark or complex magic, half-demons and you might find it interesting to know that little girls under the age of ten or eleven, sometimes twelve most commonly become child-witches. They are like little children of the forest, they look like normal girls only their physical appearance may be more unusual with hair and eyes, they have the intelligence level of a child only they perform magic, not quite in the same way as we do. They can be dangerous if crossed wrong" he said slowly.

Severus stared in awe at his boyfriend. "Is there more?" he breathed.

"Yes" Avery smiled gently. "It's fairly rare for one to become a zombie, now they aren't people that struggle along with twisted up bodies and green skin screaming 'brains, brains, brains!"' Avery pulled out his face and crossed his eyes making Severus burst into fits of laughter. "But they are like very sickly humans who do attack and kill to feel on their bodies, they often enjoy pulling them apart and playing with them preferably if they're still alive before they kill them" he cringed a little.

Severus winced. "That's horrible"

"Yes but people don't usually become them, another rarity is a Medusa who can turn people to stone these are always women though, on another rare occasion humans can become much like Thestrals, Sirens, living Inferi and the list can go on to things like lizard-creatures and such which are more common in other countries" Avery smiled gently.

Severus sat for a good few minutes looking absolutely stunned at this news. "I can't believe this…." He breathed. "This might sound like an obvious question but why would someone not accept their death? On what grounds?"

"Well" Avery began. "For example, someone who didn't want to die, who knew they were going to die very shortly before it happened and their body screamed against it, they were not the type of person to become a ghost and they were under twenty one and left there or throwing somewhere like in a lake or something, they would become undead and after ten days they would become an undead monster" he swallowed. "Someone might be murdered that way, an accident, a bad spell, animal or human attack, monster attack or infection of a monster's haemoglobin, or they might actually commit suicide without really wanting to die at all but feeling like they had no choice…."

Severus nodded. "So I could become undead? Mulciber, Evan, Regulus and all of them could technically become undead?"

"Yes" said Avery. "I think Regulus and Evan are the most likely to become undead to be honest" he went on. "Provided they die before they turn twenty one"

"We can hope they don't though" Severus breathed.

"Well, was that an interesting little lesson for you, Severus?" Avery chuckled softly.

"Interesting?!" Severus gasped. "That was AMAZING!" he beamed. "You should definitely become a Defence teacher" he said eagerly.

Avery chuckled. "I doubt anyone would hire a blood sucker like me to be a Professor and teach children"

"You never know" Severus smiled gently. "You never know anything for sure until you try" he winked playfully.

By the time they had settled into bed and kissed goodnight, Severus just could not get his mind off of Avery's tales. They were incredible, why hadn't he said anything sooner. Severus lay gazing into his boyfriend's peacefully sleeping face and smiled warmly to him. Would they ever meet someone during their school time they was or became undead?

When Friday arrived the whole school was happy for it to finally be close to the weekend again. Severus was feeling increasingly curious about what Avery had told him last night so during Divination he sat with a book on dark creatures and legends out, with his boyfriend's arm slipped around his waist as they sat in the armchairs looking through it:

Child-Witch or 'child of the forest': _A child whom has suffered a horrific fate at the hands of humans. These small elf-like creatures live deep within forests enchanting travellers and channelling powerful levels of magic. They are capable of manipulating the weather and emotions and they never grow out of their childish state, nearly always female however records of the odd male Child-Wizard remain. Immortal but slow-healing from injury._

Faerie: _Appears as a very innocent human, often looking childlike and sweet. They resemble real fairies only they are much larger around human sized. They are experts in dark magic, death and causing mayhem and chaos whenever they feel like it. Immortal._

Succubus: _Legends say that only women can become a Succubus monster as typically they were derived as women however more recent years the rare Succubus race have also depicted males, often homosexual or feminine they are demons that appear in dreams of physically as an over-sexual being, they literally suck members of the opposite (and sometimes same sex) in depending on gender of the creature they will choose a mate for life but use their Succubus magic to charm, manipulate and slowly suck the life out of men in particular. Immortal and very dangerous. _

Ghoul: _Somewhere close to ghost and zombie, these creatures can be either male or female. They are capable of using mind control over their victims and devour dead human corpses to survive. They appear as unusual and often very pale or corpse-like humans even though they have a nice physical appearance. They live deep within forests or hostile areas where they can track down and hunt whomever crosses their deadly path. Will not kill all victims, likes torture. Capable of living for thousands of years but gains hundreds more each time they kill a human. Immortal by choice. _

Siren: _Male or female with an elegant and beautiful physical appearance. Somewhat like the fairly common but not immortal Veela they are bird-like creatures that use their enchanting melodies to lure their victims in. They do not need to kill but they are extremely cruel beings who do it for fun and use their humans as trophies to compare and show off to other Siren's. Immortal. _

"There are so many listings in here" Severus breathed his eyes scanning over the pages labelled with each and every monster known or legendary to man, some dating back thousands of years with artistic drawings or depictions of them. "It's so fascinating"

Avery chuckled softly. "I know it is, I was just like you when I learned of it" he smiled gently.

The rest of the day passed and after dinner Severus and Avery were sitting together in the common room, Severus' hands massaging lovingly over his growing baby bump. They were up at the tables doing homework, just their group of Slytherin friends were sitting by the fire laughing and talking together and just generally mucking around.

"Rory okay?" Avery smiled watching Severus gazing down at his growing tummy.

"Yeah he's doing just fine" Severus grinned. "Getting a big boy now, eh?" he chuckled more to his tummy than to his boyfriend.

Avery gazed at Severus, he loved the boy so much and found it absolutely ADORABLE when he spoke to his bump in that cute, lovey tone. "On Monday you'll be twenty weeks" Avery breathed. "Five months gone" he added with a soft chuckle.

"I know and we've got another scan" Severus grinned. "How time flies when you're having lots of fun!"

"Tell me about it" Avery chuckled softly. "I can't wait to meet him, he seems really sweet"

"He is sweet, I just know it" Severus breathed.

"I can sense him a little, the more he grows the more I can sense him" Avery commented.

"Really?" Severus now looked very excited and intrigued. "What do you mean by that?"

"I mean that I can sense things of him, his heart, his blood, his emotions which are a little bit odd at the moment because they aren't strong but…."

"But, what?" Severus asked quickly.

"He loves you, Severus" Avery smiled warmly.

Severus' heart fluttered in his chest. "Really? Or are you just saying that to make me happy?"

"He really does" Avery grinned. "I think he loves me too but he's not quite as close to me yet because he's still inside of you and that's all he really knows"

Severus felt tears spring to his eyes with happiness as he gazed back down at his bump. "I love you too" he grinned to the bump. "Just you wait, I'm going to spoil you rotten!"

Avery sat laughing.

"I have to tell the others!" Severus said eagerly hopping up to his feet.

"Okay, I'll pack up here and be over in a minute" Avery nodded watching Severus let out an excitable noise and turn to hurry across the dungeon common room.

The other guys looked up when they saw him coming but nobody could predict what happened next.

One minute Severus was hurrying towards them the next minute he'd slipped on the floor, cried out with shock and was falling to the ground….

Avery's instincts kicked in before Severus had even gotten close to the ground, he didn't even need to see the boy to know something was happening. Like a bolt of lightning or even faster in fact he shot across the room at Vampire speed, slipped his arms under Severus and stopped him mid-fall.

Everybody stared in shock.

Severus gazed up with wide, dark eyes into Avery's beautiful face his lips parting.

Slowly Avery helped him to rest back on his feet and gently draped an arm around the boy's lower back. "Are you okay?" he asked his eyes filled with genuine concern.

"Yeah, I'm fine" Severus breathed obviously a little shaken. "Are you?"

Avery smiled, swallowed and nodded excitedly. "I'm just glad you're okay" he breathed pulling the boy in for a quick kiss and cuddle. "What happened?"

"I dunno I think there was some wet stuff on the floor or something" Severus said turning to look and sure enough there was a small patch of sweat or water or drink or something on the floor he'd slipped and fallen in. With his baby bump, his boy-balance and his balance being thrown off anyway due to pregnancy he wasn't exactly finding it easy to not slip on things like that.

"Okay" Avery swallowed.

"Guys" Severus grinned turning to them excitedly, he hadn't yet quite managed to register what had happened fully or that Avery had used part of his powers to save him publically, in front of their judgemental friends!

Everybody was staring with their eyes wide and mouths hanging open.

"Guys?" Severus frowned confusedly.

Avery pursed his pretty lips nervously.

"What the hell was THAT?!" Mulciber gasped staring into his best friends face. "You just…. You moved so FAST!"

Avery swallowed the lump that appeared in his throat.

Severus' face fell as a dawning expression washed over it.

"Never mind" Avery said quietly wrapping his arm a little tighter around Severus.

"How did you do that?!" it was Evan. "You were over there and then you were with Severus and caught him in a flash!"

"Did you take a potion!?" it was Wilkes.

"What the fuck?" Regulus gasped with surprise.

Severus and Avery glanced to one another for a moment before they made their way back to the table at human speed, packed up the rest of their things and made for the dormitory.

"Hey! Aren't you going to tell us what's going on?" Mulciber almost demanded jumping to his feet.

Avery looked away and they scurried off up the dorm stairs and out of sight.

They washed quickly and slipped in under the covers closing the curtains around the bed before anybody could peek in. Within minutes people did come back whispering to one another.

Severus and Avery closed their eyes when someone yanked at the curtain. They were pretending to be asleep. They waited with baited breath as they continued to lie there perfectly still breathing as slowly and as calmly as possible until finally the curtain was pushed back and they felt so much more relieved.

This was one thing they definitely did not want to happen.

Avery didn't, however, regret saving Severus, of course not. The boy could have fallen and hurt himself or the baby or both of them and Avery would never have forgiven himself if something were to happen to his lover and his child just because he didn't want his friends to see his abilities. It wasn't that he didn't want his friends to know about him being a vampire it was that he didn't want them to judge him if they knew like they judged him before about getting with Severus and making him pregnant. He didn't want to go through hell with them again and he certainly didn't want the rest of the school to find out not just for his own sake and the harassment and shit that would follow it, he didn't want any of it to come back on or Severus or stress the poor, pregnant boy out.

Severus and Avery gazed worriedly into each other's faces through the dim lighting. They could still hear the other guys talking and whispering and they were horrified that they couldn't talk to each other because their friends thought they were sleeping and they didn't want that awful speculation to happen again. So with one very light, silent kiss on the lips and a gentle smile they closed their eyes and waited for real sleep to overcome them….

"Do you reckon he's taken some sort of potion that makes you really fast?" Evan whispered from where he and Mulciber were both sat congregating on his bed behind closed curtains.

"Not a clue" said Mulciber looking thoughtful. "The way he reacted so quickly and he had his back turned as well, no way could he have seen that he had to have, like, sensed it or something?" he frowned slightly.

Evan looked worried. "Come to think of it he has done odd things before that seemed slightly suspicious..."

"You mean like knocking Snape up?" Mulciber chuckled softly.

"Well no but that is another one to add to the list" Evan smirked. "I mean like the way he owned Potter and Black before like he was bored of fighting them and they were going at him and he was so casual about it and made no effort but beat the crap out of them both, he's STRONG"

Mulciber swallowed nervously. "You don't think he's a Werewolf do you?"

Evan's eyes widened. "No, think about it, we were all together on the night of the last full moon until late and then we went to bed and nothing else happened" he replied. "I don't think he's a Werewolf but whatever the fuck he is it's scaring me"

"Scaring me too" Mulciber said chewing nervously on his bottom lip. "Maybe we can get him to talk"

"Maybe, but does he look like he wants to talk about it?" Evan quirked a brunette eyebrow suspiciously.

Mulciber pursed his lips. "I dunno, maybe we should try again tomorrow or something.

"Maybe you're right" Evan sighed.

They sat chatting for a little while longer before they decided it was time to call it a night and head off to bed.

The next morning, Severus and Avery got up around the same time as everybody else, there was a lingering, odd sort of pressure in the dormitory which they couldn't quite put their finger on as they all took turns in the bathroom.

Avery smiled to Severus gently when they were finally ready to go down for breakfast and on their way nobody spoke, there was a horrible tension between them all.

When they arrived in the Great Hall, Severus and Avery actually looked to one another as thought contemplating whether or not they should go and sit somewhere else at the Slytherin table and get away from the other guys.

In the end they chose to sit with their friends as normal and pick foods onto their plates. Avery spent the whole time smiling to Severus and such, he didn't even need to look at his friends to be able to sense them giving him strange looks and watching him eating suspiciously as though it were some sort of abnormal trist or game.

Nobody really said very much at all over breakfast and right afterwards, Severus and Avery decided to go for a nice little walk in the grounds to try and calm down a little and just enjoy the weekend.

"My parents say they've bought a cot for the baby" Avery grinned as they strolled along the little gravel path by the cool Black Lake.

Severus' face spread into a warm, beaming smile. "Really? That's so kind of them"

"I know, they're excited for the baby to get here and they really want to meet you, they say as long as I'm happy then everything is right as rain" Avery chuckled softly. "They're going to love you, my dad says you sound like a nice boy, level and clever, just what I need"

"Is your dad concerned about the people you hang out with or something then?" Severus frowned.

Avery looked up. "You're very observant, aren't you?" he chuckled softly.

Severus blushed and shrugged a little. "I guess, just a little something I learned to pick up on to be honest…."

"Well, it's brilliant" Avery smiled gently. "Yeah my parents are slightly wary of some of the people, not for any particular reason other than they want me to be safe and they don't want me kicked out of school and some of the people I hang out with aren't exactly…. Well…. You know" he chuckled softly.

"I know" Severus smiled. "I don't think my mum really bothered to be honest and my dad hates the thought of this school"

"He's a Muggle though, isn't he?" Avery asked quietly.

Severus flushed a tiny bit rosy and nodded slowly. "Yeah, he is"

"That's sort of to be expected from them though, they don't really know any better and they get confused and angry over things like this. They used to burn people they suspected of being Witches and real Witches obviously didn't burn" Avery smiled. "They're frightened of the unknown and they don't know magic and can't understand it so many of them reject the idea altogether but some are just plain jealous"

"Yeah, you know Lily Evans?"

Avery nodded.

"Her sister, Petunia, really HATES me and I mean she's probably after my blood but during summer we used to be around her and she'd always tell tales that we were doing dangerous things, she would hate us, scream at Lily, say awful things to her about being a Witch and a freak and stuff because she couldn't understand it and then come Hogwarts time when Lily got her letter, the girl wrote to Dumbledore and tried shoving it in the Muggle post to get here but of course it was found and as it turns out she was begging to go with Lily so jealousy plays a huge part" Severus explained.

Avery frowned. "What did her parents say about that?"

"They're Muggles so having a witch in the family was a pretty enormous thing for them, they showered and praised Lily but Petunia was left in the dark and pushed out, I guess she felt really left out and worthless because she was at plain old ordinary Muggle school doing ordinary basic things and Lily was off at a school for magic performing amazing things and learning all sorts of great, unusual stuff. When I think back on it at the time I thought she was being ridiculous and unnecessarily nasty but now I look back on it she was actually probably really hurt, she's not that much older than Lily to be honest so she was still technically a little girl at the time"

Avery nodded slowly with understanding. "I guess it depends on the person" he sighed. "Can see why, I mean, why wouldn't anyone want to come here? It's an incredible school of course but I guess that's the way it goes. She can't be the first Muggle to be like that"

"True, my dad didn't care he thinks I'm at a boarding school for the mentally unstable" Severus chuckled softly.

Avery's face twitched into a smirk. "What would he do if he found our you're gay and pregnant?"

"Have kittens?" Severus laughed.

They were heading along the path dropping off of it they passed through the grass glancing back up at the castle as they made their way towards the forest.

"Would it be inappropriate if I asked you if you'd mind me feeding whilst we're here?" Avery asked quietly as they teetered on the edge of the forest.

"Not at all" Severus smiled. "As long as you let me watch"

"Deal" Avery grinned purposely showing off his fangs.

….

"Why are they going into the forest?" Evan asked quietly from where they were sitting close to the bridge watching the two boys"

"I have no idea" said Mulciber. "It's dangerous in there"

"Avery wouldn't let Severus go in if it were really that bad…." Regulus reminded them shooting them both odd looks. "I think it must be at least reasonably safe…."

"That is called the Forbidden Forest for a reason" Wilkes said rolling his eyes impatiently. "Of course it is dangerous, anyone can see that!"

"All sorts of things live in that forest…." Said Evan almost worriedly. "But why do you think they'd want to go in there in the first place?" he frowned confusedly looking around at the expressions from the other guys.

They all shook their heads, shrugged and chewed on their bottom lips nervously.

"Should we follow them?" Mulciber asked quickly.

"Are you insane?!" Evan gasped. "Whatever is going on with Avery it must be safe for him to go in there and if he's there he won't let any harm get to Severus, he's WAY too fast!"

"But we're not that lucky" Regulus winced a little. "Hmm…. But that still doesn't explain why they would want to go in there when there are so many other places to take a wander to around the grounds?"

"What's more appealing than a forest full of dark creatures, interesting things to see, do and the rush of adrenaline from danger?" Evan quirked an eyebrow. "Some people really get off on that you know…."

"I know but Severus is pregnant!" Mulciber exasperated. "He can't exactly go around doing silly things and risking his life like that"

"He can if he really wants to…." Wilkes said slowly.

"But that doesn't make it a good idea" Regulus finished.

"Let's just wait, time them and see how long it takes for them to come back out and when they do come out what they're like and if it gives us any form of indication as to what they're up to in there…." Evan said checking the time on his elegant, expensive pocket watch.

There were nods and a resounding murmur of agreement….

….

Severus gazed around himself observing the beautiful scenery of the forest. It was still winter and everything was so still and silent but the mixture of dead and evergreen trees was truly fascinating. Soon when Spring arrived everything would slowly start coming back to life, blossoming again and bringing fresh, bright colours and fascinating baby animals anew.

They stopped far enough in to be away from the trees, it was so thick overhead they could hardly see any light coming through.

A shiver ran up Severus' spine but Avery just smiled to him.

"Don't worry, there's nothing dangerous about here just a few normal creatures" he whispered.

"Like what?"

"Like…." Avery said gazing off through the trees. Severus could almost see that little flex of his iris as his eyes seemed to have zoned in on something like the zoom of a brilliant camera lens and he spotted his prey.

Severus stood watching as the boy suddenly took off through the trees in a whoosh of air scattering dead leaves and undergrowth debris around their ankles.

Seconds later a small cry sounded and Avery came bursting back through with a deer through his teeth walking along so casually as though he were a Lioness carrying her fatally wounded prey.

Avery dropped the deer to the ground, its eyes were bulging and rolled back, the tongue lolled back out of the mouth as its head fell back at an awkward, limp angle.

Dead.

Severus watched with the utmost curiosity as his lover knelt down gracefully tilting his face in to it before he slowly began to drank the deer of blood.

Soon it was all done and Avery released hold smiling up into Severus' face.

"Was that good?" Severus asked watching his lover rise to his feet once again.

"Lovely" Avery smiled delicately. "Mind if I find another?" he asked his eyebrows rising slightly.

Severus chuckled. "Go for it" he breathed.

After another ten or fifteen minutes or so, they left the forest with their arms around one another. Avery's eyes were warm and calm, he looked very sweet like a sleepy child.

"Feel better?" Severus asked gently patting his boyfriend's tummy.

Avery smiled lazily. "Much better, what would you like to do now?"

"Hmm" Severus said exaggerating his thoughtfulness. "How about…. We go back to the castle…. And make love?" Avery smiled warmly.

"Why, Severus Snape, that sounds like an amazing idea" the boy chuckled softly.

….

"Shut up, here they come!" Evan whispered pointing to the track where Avery and Severus were strolling up talking and laughing happily together. They looked so peaceful and relaxed.

The small group of boys darted behind one of the large stones peeking out from around the side watching them curiously. Searching as though they thought they might find something interesting on their way.

"The guys are hiding over there" Avery said quietly as they approached.

Severus looked up. "Can't see them"

"I can smell them, I've been able to smell them for a while whilst we were walking up here" he chuckled. "GUYS!" he called loudly a smirk plastered all over his handsome face. "I know you're behind there!"

Very slowly they all emerged trying to look aloof but it really only made them look more thoroughly guilty.

"Uhh, hi" Evan said quietly.

"Spying on us?" Avery said quirking a handsome dark eyebrow at the boy.

Evan looked very awkward. "No we were just hanging out back here…." He looked helplessly to Mulciber who shot him a tiny shrug.

Avery's eyes narrowed.

"Looking for a great place to get stoned, nice new place is in order!" Evan grinned shooting his friend an over-exaggerated thumbs up.

Avery rolled his eyes and Severus sighed heavily. "Okay, well, we're going back to the dormitory now to fuck each other's brains out but you're more than welcome to come and watch us if you really want to or you really feel that perverted"

Their faces dropped.

Severus and Avery both burst into enormous fits of laughter as they continued walking past strolling away from the guys.

As soon as they got into the castle and headed for the dungeon corridor, Avery suddenly stopped freezing on the spot. Severus whom was in the middle of laughing stopped too when he noticed his boyfriend wasn't quite with it.

"Avery?" he frowned in confusion.

But Avery didn't respond straight away.

Now Severus was beginning to look as worried as he felt. Something was clearly wrong, the small crease appearing between those lovely, perfect little eyebrows made fear clench at Severus' chest. What was happening? Were their friends stalking them again or something?

"Severus…." Avery said quietly.

Severus swallowed beginning to tremble all over. Something about the way Avery was standing signalled danger or alarms bells ringing. The hairs on the back of Severus' neck stood on end. "W-what is it?" he breathed nervously desperately searching his lover's face. "Avery…. Please tell me" he breathed stepping in front of the boy.

Avery caught Severus' eye holding that gaze for a moment as he chewed on his bottom lip, his agitation growing more obvious by the second. "Something is wrong" he said finally.

Severus inhaled sharply. "What with?" he asked breathlessly.

Avery said nothing he only looked more concerned as though he were straining to hear or sense something.

"Will?" Severus choked out desperately. "What is it? What's going on?!" his voice was slowly becoming frantic.

"Something is happening or about to happen" Avery said whirling around on his heels his eyes darting all over the entrance hall as though looking for the source of the danger.

Severus' eyes followed but obviously he wasn't a vampire he didn't have the abilities or anything to match Avery's. The weird thing about it all was that nobody else seemed even remotely bothered. People were standing around chatting, snacking, laughing and playing. A few people had turned to glance suspiciously at Avery whom now looked as odd as the Divination teacher as he sniffed at the air.

"Avery…." Severus breathed in fear of something happening to them, or perhaps their baby?

"Someone is in danger" Avery said finally whirling around to face Severus. "I can't quite…." He said awkwardly clutching at his head.

"It's okay" Severus said taking his boyfriend by the arms and leading him over to one of the benches to sit on. "Talk to me, tell me, I'll listen, what do you think is happening?" the boy asked his voice catching in his throat a few times with nerves making him swallow quickly.

"I-I'm not sure" Avery's eyebrows creased further and he pursed his lips again. "Something is going on, but it's muffled, someone is in danger…. FEAR! I can smell fear" he breathed.

Severus tried searching his boyfriend's face again. "Who is it?" he asked quietly as he took the boy's hand in his own. "Or who do you think it is?"

"Ah" Avery gasped. "I can't quite…. There's more than one but it's one person it's happening to" he managed out awkwardly.

Severus took initiative. "A duelling match? Someone being hexed, bullied or beaten up?" he frowned.

Avery shook his head. "No it's worse than that, I can sense it" he breathed. "I'm only a very young vampire it can be hard to sense things like this to the exact especially when it doesn't happen that often here" he explained. "But I think…. I think someone is in trouble, I can smell their fear, they're going to get hurt physically and emotionally, I can't quite tell who but it isn't good…. Something horrible will happen to them…."

"Death?" Severus whispered.

"No" Avery said quickly. "Not like that" he swallowed and gazed off towards the staircases. "I don't think I can help them though, I think it might already be too late…." He breathed.

Severus now felt very concerned for the boy. "Well how about we get you back to the dormitory and away from all of these people because they're starting to stare and maybe you can think more clearly there" he said rising to his feet, he was only trying for the sensible option.

Avery glanced around him before he got to his feet nodding to his boyfriend. "Yeah…." He breathed. "Yeah I think that might be a good idea"

Severus lead him back down into the dungeons as quickly as possible away from the creepy, prying eyes of people. It wasn't uncommon for Slytherin's in particular to be stared in that way because it was sort of in their nature to do odd or suspicious things at time especially when under pressure from something or just generally thinking.

Once they were back they washed up, changed and sat down on the bed with Severus gently massaging his boyfriend's back for him to calm him down.

Slowly Avery began to relax and he turned to Severus and smiled. "I'm sorry about what I did back there it must have been a bit horrible for you…."

"Never mind that" Severus breathed. "You're okay now, that's what counts" he said.

Avery smiled warmly again and pulled Severus into a loving but very passionate kiss on the lips.

When they parted they were gazing into each other's eyes.

"Do you want to make love?" Severus offered at a purr sinking his teeth sexily into his rosy, plump lower lip.

Avery's face spread into a grin so wide that Severus could see those beautifully gleaming fangs. Taking the initiative, Severus leaned in and captured one between his lips gently grazing his teeth over it and suckling at the side being careful to avoid the very sharp tip he was wary could spread the vampire venom into his system and being pregnant that could become a serious problem in a matter of seconds.

Avery moaned very loudly and in a flash he had Severus pinned to the bed a hand sliding up his side as he pressed between the boy's legs.

Severus just chuckled playfully and caught that delicate but deadly fang between his lips again feeling it elongate and throb under his lips.

Avery was gasping, moaning and even growling with pleasure as Severus continued to do that, the poor boy was even trembling and going weak at the elbows.

Severus smirked to himself and humming with amusement only intensifying the pleasure. Now he's found a private little way to drive the vampire wild and bring the strongest of all monsters to his knees before him. Severus was taking a lot of satisfaction in that and suspected he was probably the only human in history to be capable of doing that to a vampire.

….

Meanwhile upstairs in the Gryffindor tower…..

Sirius and James came bursting into the dormitory terrifying poor Remus whom was sitting on his bed innocently reading. His eyes went wide as he stared at them.

"Oh, hello…." He said warily.

James' chest was heaving, Sirius looked livid and Peter was nowhere to be found.

"You" James snarled pointing the accusing finger to the boy.

Remus blinked in frightened confusion.

"I am sick of this, what the hell is wrong with you!?" he roared.

"I have no idea what you're talking about…." Remus said shaking his head and turning his attention back on his book.

Sirius went marching straight over their grabbing the book and throwing it roughly aside out of the boy's grasp.

"Hey-"

Remus was cut short by Sirius roughly grabbing him by the jaw and yanking his face to look into his eyes.

"DID YOU FUCKING REPORT US TO PROFESSOR MCGONALL FOR ORDERING IN THOSE FIREWORKS?!" Sirius snarled.

Remus' eyes widened and a small noise escaped his throat as James flicked his wand to the door and it slammed shut before he also advanced on Remus.

"What's the big idea, Moony?" Sirius said in a horribly frightening sing-song voice. "Think it was funny to get us a month of detentions do you? Have it on our record and have us scrubbing floors for old Filch every Monday night?" his chest was heaving with anger.

"No…. but-"

"Did you think it was funny to tell Evans about this too?" James spat.

Remus didn't answer.

James brought his hand down across the Werewolf's face. ANSWER ME WHEN I AM TALKING TO YOU!" he spat nastily.

"No, but those fireworks are-"

"Contraband?" Sirius laughed. "Dangerous?"

"Not allowed in the school?" James quirked an eyebrow behind his glasses resting his hands on his sharp hip bones. "Come on, Moony, you must have picked one of them if not more" he laughed dangerously.

Remus swallowed his eyes filled with fear as Sirius released hold of his face. Remus made to get away but Sirius lashed out and grabbed him by his lovely golden locks.

Remus' hands shot to the boy's wrist and he choked out a sound in terror. He could see his wand behind James on the bedside table but he knew if he so much looked square at it they would take it and possibly hurt him with it, it was too dangerous so all Remus could actually do was sit, tremble and hope against hope that someone came to help him or they let him go right now.

"What shall we do to punish him, Prongs?" Sirius asked casually looking to his best friend as though Remus weren't even there.

"He's caused us a lot of trouble this week with one thing or another" James said sounding slightly amused. He looked to Remus and tilted his head to one side. "Bit stuck up sometimes, aren't you?" he smirked.

"He's got a real mouth on him too, James" Sirius said venomously.

Remus looked from one to the other and back again out of pure, iced fear.

"I say we teach him a lesson he'll never forget, what do you think, Sirius?" he asked casually looking to his friend.

"What do you have in mind?"

James smirked bearing his white teeth before he leaned in and whispered something in Sirius' ear. The boy's face twisted into an obscene smile that made the bottom fall out of Remus' stomach.

Something was very wrong indeed.

"What are you-"

Remus cried out with panic when Sirius and James jumped onto the bed, James clamped a hand over the boy's mouth and Sirius released his hair grabbing aggressively at his hips bones.

The Werewolf gasped as James' fingers dug into his shoulder blades painfully tightly.

"Fuck you, Sirius!" Remus gasped out as Sirius smacked him roughly across the back.

"Oh but Moony, I intend to be the one fucking you" Sirius' voice sent terrified shivers down the boy's spine.

Remus began to thrash but they held him still, James kneeling in front of him as Sirius yanked down his trousers and underwear. Remus could hardly breathe he was so frightened, the shock was getting to him, he felt like he was about to have a panic attack if he wasn't having one already.

That horrid sound of fabric being pulled at and a zipper coming down made Remus squirm with panic. He tried to glance back at Sirius but nothing worked.

He looked up into James' hazel eyes with tears in his beautiful blue ones pleading with him to make Sirius stop or that this was some sort of joke.

James grinned nastily and holding Remus' hair with one hand he shoved down his own trousers with the other springing his cock free.

Remus' heart was hammering in his chest, he was shaking and sweating and trying to pull free.

"Noisy little one, isn't he?" Sirius said as he grabbed a rougher hold on Remus' hips shifting his own closer to the boy's backside.

With a wave of his wand, Remus' tie shot off of the trunk at the bottom of the bed and entwined itself around Remus' hands bonding him still.

"The more he screams, the better it is" James breathed.

With hard thrust, Remus almost screamed. James caught his hair tighter instantly silencing the boy as Sirius buried himself balls deep inside of Remus with one go.

Before Remus could even get used to the intrusion, black spots dancing before his eyes, James' wand was under his chin and he was pressing his cock into Remus' lips.

"Bite me and I will make sure you never speak again" he spat (literally) in Remus' face before forcing the boy on his erection.

Remus' face was streaming with tears and he sobbed quietly as Sirius thrust very quickly and very roughly into his backside grunting with pleasure and James did the same to his throat at the same time. Remus was trying not to gag and choke but the sensations were awful.

"Nice virgin arse back here, James" Sirius moaned thrusting even harder into the boy.

"Good" James chuckled panting softly with the pleasure of it all.

It took minutes before Sirius came hard filling Remus to the brim with his hot semen, he sagged for barely a moment before pulling out and switching places with James.

Remus was wishing desperately that this would end and hopefully the work with his throat had brought James close enough for this to be fast.

When James thrust inside, Remus wanted to die with shame, humiliation and disgust. This was so awful, unfair and uncalled for!

"This is your own fault" Sirius spat nastily.

"You deserve it" said James coolly. "You brought this on yourself…."

"Suck it" Sirius said lazily thrusting himself into Remus' mouth.

Remus wanted to vomit.

When James came he pounded into Remus with blinding speed spraying him deeply with his cum before pulling himself out sharply.

Remus fell face down on the bed in a sobbing heap as the other two boys grinned to one another and tucked themselves away.

"You won't tell anyone, will you, Moony?" Sirius said viciously a deathly threat under his voice.

"No" Remus sobbed into his pillow.

"Good" James smiled.

When Remus was finally left alone to cry barely a minute later he wanted nothing more than for someone to come alone and kill him right now. He needed someone right now, someone he could talk to…. Or someone who could end it all for him…

….


	14. Chapter 14

1`It wasn't much longer after that when Remus got up, shaking all over he picked up his spare school bag and began cramming his things into it, his journal, ink and a quill, clothes, underwear, his teddy, photographs of his parents and other personal items into the bag. He wasted no time yanking some clothes on and belting from the room hissing at the pain it brought him.

He felt disgusting, humiliated, destroyed. This was fucking wrong, this was terrible, how could they do something like that to him?! His friends!

Remus burst into tears as soon as he escaped the common room and began tearing down the staircases, he had no idea where he was going to go. He was half blinded by his tears as he ran as fast as his legs could carry him.

Remus didn't even see Regulus Black coming out of one of the corridors as he ran smack into him. Both boys went crashing to the floor crying out with shock. Remus banged his nose on the marble flooring and blood instantly spurted everywhere. He groaned in pain.

"What the-" Regulus said sitting himself up. His face dropped when he saw Remus sobbing face down on the floor. "Remus?" he frowned slightly actually bothering to address the half-blood by his first name. "Are you okay?" he asked trying to help the boy to his feet but Remus wasn't cooperating he just lay there sobbing his heart out. "Should I get someone for you?" Regulus tried.

"NO!" Remus said quickly as he sat up slowly coughing on the taste of the blood.

"What about my brother or-"

"NO PLEASE DON'T GET HIM!" Remus cried seizing hold of Regulus by the front of his robes. "YOU CAN'T, PROMISE ME YOU WON'T!" he screamed at the younger boy.

Regulus looked petrified as he stood in utter shock staring into Remus' blood and tear-stained face.

For a moment there, Remus just stood crying until he curled over hugging his arms tightly.

Regulus swallowed and began gathering up the boy's dropped things that were scattered about the floor. "Here" he said gently. "Do you want me to take you to the hospital wing?" he asked in a soft voice.

Remus shook his head.

"Did you bang your head?"

Remus shook his head. "Please…." He breathed. "Please just stay with me a while…." He sobbed weakly.

Regulus felt awful and baffled. He'd never seen anybody break down like this before let alone someone like Remus Lupin. Never had he ever expected to witness something like this it was awful. He did take pity on the poor boy though. "Would you like to come back to my dormitory and I'll help clean you up?"

Remus' chest was heaving with panic still and Regulus could be sure the boy was probably having a panic attack. He needed to sit down and he needed to calm down, if he wouldn't have his friends help or the nurse maybe he would accept help from Regulus. Despite the way he'd been raised, Regulus was a very caring boy deep down.

"Yes please" Remus choked thinking that it would be the only place he could go where he would be totally safe from those filthy rapists again.

"Okay" Regulus breathed gently taking the sobbing, half-screaming terrified boy down the rest of the staircases and into the dungeon corridor.

Regulus' own heard was hammering when he muttered the password and the wall slid back revealing the tiny enclosed pathway walk into the common room.

As soon as he entered his friend looks up and their faces plummeted as soon as they saw Remus.

Remus was sobbing, tears and blood all over his face dripping onto his shirt, he was shaking violently all over, gasping for breath that never seemed to fill his lungs and he looked wild.

"What happened?" Evan asked quickly.

None of the Slytherin's looked even angry at Remus being in their territory, the sight of him in that state.

"I don't know" said Regulus leading the boy over to the dormitory doors.

Avery's head turned sharp and he shot across the room at vampire speed staring into Remus' face.

Severus' jaw dropped. Blood.

Avery clenched his jaw and Remus looked even more terrified but Avery wasn't doing it in an aggressive way, he was doing it because he could sense it. That bad thing that happened today happened to Remus. He'd been raped.

His warm brown eyes shot to Regulus giving him one of those looks before he nodded and Regulus took Remus upstairs.

Once inside the dormitory, Regulus took Remus by the arm into the bathroom closing the door privately behind them. He rinsed the bath around and filled it with warm water and soap moving to Remus' side.

The boy was crying and trembling as Regulus pulled off his clothes, what he saw when Remus turned frightened him more than anything else he'd seen tonight.

There was blood and what looked like semen leaking down Remus' pale thighs.

Regulus' eyes widened dramatically.

Shaking his head clear, Regulus slowly lowered Remus into the water. Regulus enjoyed helping people out whenever he could and it was heart breaking seeing someone in this condition.

Remus gave a hiss and a small sob as his sore, abused body hit the water but Regulus gave him a warm smile.

"Is that any better?" he spoke gently.

Remus gave a tiny nod.

"Let me get sorted out then" Regulus said. He moved over to the sink, pulled off his jumper and threw it in the wash so he was just in a t-shirt. He washed his hands thoroughly, tore off some tissue and popped open the medicine cabinet grabbing some anti-septic wipes and potion cream from there before shutting it and heading over to Remus again.

"I'll clean up your nose and when you get out I'll help fix it up properly, do you think it's broken?" Regulus asked very kindly as he pulled on some sterile gloves they kept just in case of injuries they needed to self-treat (e.g. burns, cuts, stinging hexes, general cuts and grazes etc)

Remus shook his head. "No" his voice was tiny and vulnerable.

Regulus reached forward and tilted the boy's face up mopping away the blood and using the wipes to clear his face up so it was nice and clean and fresh again. Remus' sobbing calmed to a small hiccough and very sad eyes which had to be an improvement. When he was done he wrapped the things up in a bag, discarded them in the bin and washed his hands again.

"Better?" Regulus smiled and Remus nodded his head.

"Thank you" Remus choked out.

Regulus just smiled again and moved round behind Lupin. The boy was naked in the bath but Regulus wasn't too worried about that right now, he gently picked up a cup and began pouring the warm water over Remus' hair washing shampoo and condition through it and rinsing it for him again as he sat sulking in the warm, bubbly water.

When they were done, Regulus allowed Remus to feebly wash his body before he fetched the boy a clean towel and held it open to him for the boy to crawl into it and Regulus wrapped it around him. Regulus fetched a brand new tooth brush from the cupboard and allowed Remus to do his teeth thoroughly.

Regulus cleaned everything up and washed his hands again before he took Remus back into his dormitory and lead the boy over to his bed.

"Your bag-"

"I-I have clothes in there and stuff" Remus swallowed pulling it towards him and snatching a pair of underwear out.

Regulus turned away as the boy dressed himself and sat perched on the edge of the bed after tossing the dirty towel in the wash basket.

Regulus moved to sit down slowly beside the poor Gryffindor boy and waited.

"They raped me" Remus said in a tiny, brittle voice.

Regulus' eyes widened but he already suspected something like this had happened. "Who?" he asked very gently knowing how sensitive this subject must be for the boy.

"Y-your brother and J-J-James" Remus stammered hiccoughing again.

Regulus felt that horrendous shock-horror wash over him again. His rosy lips parted with shock as he stared into the boy's tear-stained face. He did look a bit better now he'd been thoroughly scrubbed with anti-bacterial everything including bubble bath. "Remus…."

"Don't judge me and I'm telling you this because I'm terrified and you've just looked after me" he murmured unable to even look at the younger Slytherin boy.

"I don't like seeing people hurt and upset like that" Regulus flushed a tiny bit. "I'd like to ask what exactly happened but I know it's probably your business and you won't be ready to talk today but perhaps tomorrow or in time you will…."

"Please" Remus whispered turning his large blue eyes on Regulus sadly. "Can I stay here tonight? I-I'll sleep on the floor or in the common room or the bath tub, ANYWHERE, please don't let me go back to Gryffindor" he sobbed desperately.

Regulus swallowed and nodded. "Okay, but you don't have to sleep in the common room, bath or floor, you can have my bed" he smiled gently.

Remus looked worried. "But-"

"I can sleep on the floor, it's no problem really" Regulus offered. "Or maybe I'll ask Avery to borrow his bed tonight so I can sleep in there if you don't mind my dorm mates or you could perhaps go there?"

Remus shrugged a little. "Whatever is easiest for everyone, I don't mean to cause a problem or an inconvenience…." He said quietly. "If-if I stay here you could sleep next to me if you want"

"Would it make you feel safer if I did?"

Remus nodded gently. "I know it probably sounds COMPLETELY inappropriate right now I just want someone to be next to me who I don't think will try to hurt me or do that again and I'm actually in Slytherin right now, it's a little dangerous for me to be down here, isn't it?"

Regulus shrugged. "I don't think anyone actually hates you in Slytherin" he frowned slightly with thought. "No, they don't"

Remus nodded slowly. "Okay, I understand" he breathed.

Regulus reached for his wand and Remus flinched but allowed him to dry off that long blonde hair for the poor boy making him much warmer and nicer-looking now he didn't look quite as horrific as he did beforehand. He then carefully massaged some of the healing cream into the boy's nose resting it on the bedside table closest to Remus and taking the spare, clean goblet he cast the boy some water smiling at him.

"Come on" Regulus smiled guiding the pyjama-clad boy down under his bed covers.

Remus snatched his teddy from his back burying his face in it as he wrapped the covers around his body sighing with relief and closing his eyes over.

"I'll stay here with you but I'm not ready to go to bed yet" Regulus smiled gently moving over to sit beside him but on top of the covers. He lifted the book from his nightstand and began reading as Remus turned over and cuddled his teddy closer facing Regulus. The Slytherin smiled to him gently trying not to show as much sympathy as he felt as he knew it often upset people more if they thought people were pitying them, especially people in Gryffindor anyway they were too proud and brave and…. Remus didn't really seem any of those things right now….

Regulus watched as slowly but surely the poor boy drifted off to sleep and he sighed. His own brother of all people was a rapist…. A FUCKING RAPIST. Regulus felt the blood boil in his veins, nobody hated Remus Lupin, he was a very civil, kind student who never caused problems and did what he felt right. There wasn't actually a bad bone in his body and even if he had done something wrong, which Regulus was positive the body hadn't, nobody deserved to be treated and abused like this. Nobody!

The door creaked open a little while later and people were poking their heads in curiously.

Regulus smiled to them gently as Severus, Avery and how own dorm friends came strolling in peering curiously at Remus.

"Avery told me what happened" Severus breathed to the boy. "That must be so awful, is he alright"

Regulus smiled weakly and glanced to the sleeping Gryffindor. "He's not exactly good but he could have been a lot worse" he sighed softly.

"This is terrible" Wilkes commented across the room.

Regulus swallowed and looked back down to Remus again. Even if you weren't friends with him he was just one of those sweet people you couldn't touch even if you wanted to.

"If you need anything in the night let us know" Severus nodded to him.

"Thanks, hopefully he'll feel better by the morning" Regulus breathed.

With one last look at Remus the two boys left and headed back into their own dormitory reeling from the events.

"What's happening?" Mulciber asked as soon as they were inside and the dormitory door was closed.

"He's sleeping in Regulus' bed tonight" said Severus slowly.

Mulciber quirked an eyebrow.

"Not like that" Avery said calmly. "He's been through some serious shit tonight so it's best to leave him alone until tomorrow"

"Yeah, well, you can go and see him in the morning" said Evan. "He looked a right mess"

"Hopefully we can see what's actually been happening tomorrow" Mulciber yawned flopping down lazily on his bed.

Severus and Avery went into the bathroom and shut the door quietly behind them.

"I got a little worried there for a second when he was all covered in blood" said Severus a little nervously.

Avery chuckled. "I wouldn't bite or attack a human without reason, I'll admit, I wanted to and his blood smelled really good but I won't touch him" he said as he stood brushing his teeth.

Severus smiled. He felt really proud of Avery for what he'd done, he also felt pleased that the boy didn't attack Remus and seemed to be concerned. Well, it was hard not to be after some poor boy had just been raped. They didn't know the details of it but it had obviously been very nasty. Slytherin's treated one another like brothers and hated it when anyone didn't do that, even if Remus was a Gryffindor he'd never done them any harm or reported them for anything it more like an association thing that let him down a little but they would still treat him with the kindness they would treat one of their own.

By the time they got into bed, Mulciber and Evan were shooting them suspicious glances.

"Bit fast on your feet lately, aren't you?" Mulciber said coolly.

Avery swallowed. "Yeah, I've been exercising a lot…."

"No amount of exercise could make you that fast" Evan said flatly. "That wasn't human at all"

Avery could see Severus looking at him worriedly through the corner of his eyes. "Oh well" he shrugged simply.

"So what is it?" Evan asked curiously. "Aren't you a human? Or maybe you've just been at some physical enhancement potions…." Now he sounded as though he were both suspicious and testing them.

Avery just stared.

"Answer him then?" Mulciber argued. "I don't know what's wrong with you but you're acting completely weird and creepy!" he protested.

"I can't tell you" Avery said finally.

They stared.

"And why not?" Evan blinked. "We're your friends and all you do is keep secrets from us, it's like you hate us or something!"

"We never keep anything from you and you've obviously told Severus!" Mulciber said angrily pointing to the boy.

Avery looked helplessly to Severus for a moment.

Severus, much to his surprise, smiled and nodded gently reassuring him it was okay.

"If I were to tell you what it is that you so obviously desperately need to know, would you be able to keep it a secret?" Avery asked slowly.

They stared.

"Of course" said Mulciber. "We're not the type to blab"

"We never said anything before, did we?" Evan frowned.

"Yeah but this is bigger than the pregnancy…." Avery said quietly an awkward expression crossing over his face.

"Bigger than getting a teenage boy pregnant?!" Mulciber gasped. "What the hell is this then?"

Avery hesitated a few minutes more. "What if I told you I'm not what you think I am, that I'm not like you…." He spoke slowly.

"Well…. Then what are you?" Mulciber swallowed nervously.

"I haven't always been this way" Avery said quietly. "But I'm…. I'm a vampire…."

The dawning realisation that washed over Mulciber and Evan's faces was horrible. Severus had to close his eyes for a few moments to avoid their terrified gazes.

Avery seemed to sense they were about to run, he leapt from the bed and shot across the room before either of them had much of a chance to get off of their beds. "You don't need to be afraid of me…." He said quietly.

"But you…. You're…."

"Vampire" Avery said quietly again searching their faces for some other emotion rather than absolute horror.

"Vampire" Mulciber breathed his eyes wide and terrified.

Evan actually shrank back against the headboard of the bed as he stared wide-eyed at the boy.

"But you know I won't hurt you, right?" Avery said his face creasing with concern. "I haven't ever hurt you in any way" he added quickly.

They were still staring.

"He's safe" Severus' voice was quiet but they all turned to stare at him. "I should know, I' m his boyfriend, I have sex with him" he flushed a tiny bit.

"Are you one as well then?" Evan asked quickly.

Severus flushed but shook his head. "No" he breathed. "I'm fully human"

"What about the baby?" Mulciber asked looking down at Severus' obviously growing baby bump sticking out through his pyjama t-shirt.

"The baby is fine" said Avery calmly. "He's human too, just like Severus is" he shot them a tiny smile.

The boys still looked horrified over the prospect of being near a vampire. Avery was deadly and dangerous and could easily kill any of them at any second.

But Avery wouldn't.

Evan grabbed for his wand and sat staring very worriedly at Avery.

Avery on the other hand seemed to find this rather amusing and chuckled lightly at the feeble attempt for protection. "Save it, you won't be able to hurt or kill me" a tiny smile twitched in the corner of his mouth.

Evan lowered his wand a little but didn't put it down.

"I understand you being frightened but I really won't do anything to hurt you and-"

"How long?" Mulciber said a little sharply.

Avery stared in confusion at him.

"How long have you been a vampire for? You can't have been one all that long, your family aren't vampires…." He swallowed nervously.

Avery sighed softly. "Since last summer, I was attacked in a forest by a vampire girl and changed then, I spent several days wild and feeding before I was found and taken home, I've never drank human blood"

"But you do drink blood…." Mulciber said slowly.

"Yes but the blood of animals I've hunted and such" Avery explained. "I hunt in the forest"

Mulciber and Evan gasped.

"Where you went today" said Evan.

"Yes" Avery said quietly.

Mulciber and Evan's faces seemed to drop even further with the horrible realisation that when they were spying on the boys and saw them go into the forest, Avery had gone in there to kill things and drain them of blood, they'd also spoken to him right after it happened.

"You see" said Severus finally. "He was hunting with me there right beside him and he never once even attempted to touch me, I was safe even though he can smell my blood and hear my heart beating"

They looked simply horrified at this revelation but Mulciber cleared his throat a little and looked back to Avery. "You can hear his heart beating?!"

"I can hear yours as well, and Evan's" Avery said simply his eyes flickering to the boy for a moment.

They looked mildly disturbed by this idea, Mulciber even placed a hand over his heart nervously as though trying to make it quieter to the boy couldn't hear it. Avery just smirked and by accident, a fang slipped out.

Mulciber gasped and leapt back falling with a loud thud from the bed. Evan yelped with shock not only at Mulciber but at what he'd just seen. The long, thin white fang was hanging over the right hand corner of Avery's perfect lips.

Avery didn't seem too fussed by it all really, he simply slipped his fang away and moved over offering a hand to his best friend helping him with complete and utter ease to his feet.

"Y-your skin…. It's not really that cold…." Mulciber breathed staring down at Avery's slender, pale hand.

Avery chuckled softly. "No, it isn't"

"But Professor Averis-" Evan tried.

Severus and Avery both burst out laughing making the boy blush slightly with discomfort.

"He hasn't got a clue, that man thinks Vampires can be killed with a stake, a cross and some garlic" Avery beamed his eyes shining with delight.

"You can't?" Mulciber blinked.

"I'm already dead" Avery said quietly. "You can't kill the dead"

"You mean, you really can't die?" Evan asked tilting his head to one side.

"No, I can't" Avery said simply. "You won't find anything other than another's vampire fangs that can penetrate my skin, you won't leave a scratch on me, I'm immensely strong I can break stone, I can run so fast what you have seen is nothing, that was my Vampire walking pace, I can see in the dark, I can zoom in on things, I can see the dust in the air, the veins under your skin" his eyes flickered to Mulciber. "I can hear your hearts beating at this very second, including the baby's"

Severus' face lit up with happiness.

"And if you don't believe me…." Avery said. "Take our your wand or get a knife and try to stab me, cut me or hurt me" he looked between Mulciber and Evan.

They seemed to hesitate.

"I wanna do it for fun" said Evan. "See if you really don't cut open and bleed"

Avery chuckled softly. "Okay then" he smiled pulling his t-shirt up revealing the slender, pale and very supple skin on his tummy.

Evan got slowly to his feet fingering his wand nervously. Slowly he pointed it to the boy and swallowed anxiously. Avery shot him a smile and Evan muttered a spell, a jet of light shot into Avery's tummy and Severus instantly recognised it as a spell that would cut your open, it could cut through wood as that was what it was designed for.

Avery just flashed a smile. "Harder" he said.

Evan tried another one used for cutting through solid iron.

Not even a scratch.

"His skin is so smooth like satin, he's beautiful" Severus smiled warmly at his boyfriend.

"Vampires are supposed to be beautiful" said Mulciber. "It's how they get you close so they can get you"

Severus glared.

"I would never hurt him" Avery said gruffly. "I've been with him for ages now and never done him any harm and I never would, he knows that, the same as I haven't done anything to either of you!"

"Wow, vampires really are protective" Evan said his eyes widening slightly.

Avery made his way back across the room to crawl into bed beside Severus. "I know you two have lots of questions for me, so shoot" he said wrapping an arm around his sleepy boyfriend and looking at both Mulciber and Evan expectantly.

"Did it hurt to become a vampire?" Evan asked after some minutes of silence.

"Immensely"

"Does blood taste good?" it was Mulciber.

"Yes" said Avery a smirk plastering all over his face. "To you it wouldn't and it would likely make you nauseous or vomit if you tried to swallow it but to me it's amazing and delicious and vampires are driven wild for it, imagine being starving to the point you're shaking, weak and suffering and someone puts a cream puff pastry with all the trimmings of delicious syrup, jam, fruit and such right to your mouth but you aren't allowed to touch it, lick it or eat any of it" he said. "That's what it's like being around humans"

"Then why do you stay?" Evan frowned. "Why do you do that to yourself?"

"Because I love Severus, I have a family with him and I want to finish my education, I want to come to school and have a normal life" Avery said slowly. "I don't want to be like one of those other vampires that end up feral and killing for a sick pleasure of it, I won't do that and in time I think I'll come to ignore the scent and the blood, I've had lots of practise"

"Is that why you ran to Lupin earlier?" Evan gasped his green eyes widening with fear.

"No" said Avery. "I ran to him because I could smell lots of things going on with him, I know what happened to him but I'm not going to tell all of you right now because that wouldn't be right or fair on him but I can tell you it was sick and twisted and I feel really sorry for him"

They looked to each other and nodded slowly with understanding.

"But didn't the blood bother you?" Mulciber frowned.

"It did, a lot, I might be a young vampire but I'm not wild or out of control, I focus myself and I don't let myself get into the state where I would become dangerous to anyone, I wouldn't let myself get that thirsty, I take blood tablets and I feed regularly and being around Severus and so close to him helps me a lot" he smiled to the smaller boy whom cuddled him tighter. "Especially when we're having sex because his hormones and his heart add more thrill and flavour to his blood but I don't hurt him because I know better"

"That's…. pretty amazing" Evan said looking rather surprised at this revelation.

"He's watched me hunt, he's watched me drink blood without being afraid of me or what he's seen me doing and I value that tremendously I know a lot of people would scream and run or at least be frightened but Severus isn't like that and I respect and love him" Avery smiled gently to his boyfriend more than to anyone else.

"I love him and he's amazing and he treats me right so why should I be bothered about something like that? He drinks blood, so what?" Severus laughed. "There's much worse things he could be out doing than that and I know there are really, sick, rotten humans in this school and with him being a vampire he isn't human yet he is far more human than they are"

They stared at Severus smiling gently unsure of what else to say or do.

"Will you age?" Mulciber asked curiously.

"I'm filling out a little now and when I look about seventeen or eighteen I will stop growing and completely freeze that way forever" Avery said quietly.

"What about the sun?" Evan asked quickly.

Avery sighed. "I don't burn, I glimmer a little but mostly it shows me for a terrifying monster so it's best I don't stand in direct sunlight" he chuckled softly. "It doesn't hurt me at all though and no my bed at home isn't a coffin, no I don't need to sleep but I can because it's relaxing, I don't need to eat but I do because it helps my thirst and I don't ever need to go to the toilet"

They looked rather surprised at these revelations but in a good way.

It wasn't long after that when Avery and Severus were finally allowed to settle down.

"Keep this to yourselves I want to be the one to tell other people when the time is right, especially not tomorrow though because of that Gryffindor boy down here" Avery said as he closed his eyes ready to sleep.

Nobody said anything more that night not wanting to pressure Avery anymore. Besides, it was best they slept on what had happened and give themselves a chance to get used to it all.

….

The next morning Remus woke in a strange bed, to strange smells with a strange person lying next to him. He wasn't completely bamboozled of course, the memories from last night were still haunting him as he rubbed his tired eyes and curled back up into a ball with his stuffed teddy.

Remus began to cry quietly into his bear, tears trickling down his pale cheeks. How could any of this had happened? How could he possibly be treated this way by his friends? Remus knew he couldn't go back there after last night, especially so because he had ditched his friends after what they did, they might try to hurt him again.

Regulus stirred and opened his eyes blinking into Remus' face. A pang of sadness washed over him. "Remus…." He said quietly.

The boy sniffled, hiccoughed and tried to look innocent like he wasn't crying but Regulus shot him a small, sympathetic smile.

"I understand" he whispered. "If you want someone to confide in then please talk to me, I'm not my brother, you can trust me" Regulus smiled softly which touched his eyes perfectly.

Remus felt himself beginning to relax somewhat. "Thank you" he choked out.

"Do you want me to go and get you some breakfast?" Regulus offered but Remus shook his head.

"No thank you, I just…. I can't eat anything right now…."

"Okay" Regulus nodded quietly. "Is there anything at all you would like?"

"Please…. Don't let them near me, don't make me go back to them…." Remus whimpered sadly.

"I won't make you go anywhere" Regulus smiled gently. "You can stay here but I really think you should report what happened to a-"

"NO" Remus gasped his eyes wide and terrified. "I can't do that, please don't tell, PLEASE!" the boy begged.

Regulus stared open-mouthed at him. "I won't…." he breathed.

"Swear you won't tell a teacher or anybody about this" Remus choked.

"I promise I won't tell anyone if it's really what you want" Regulus breathed. It went against what he believed in but it wasn't his place to report such a thing especially if the poor, fragile Gryffindor couldn't cope. For whatever reason this had happened and Regulus could understand the shame and how he wanted to keep things quiet.

"Would you mind if I went back to sleep for a little while?" Remus asked quietly. "I normally sleep in on a Sunday…."

Regulus shot him a smile. "Was about to ask you the same thing" he chuckled closing his eyes over again.

Within seconds they were both sleeping again.

A couple of hours breezed on past and Regulus woke gazing at Remus. The boy was sleeping soundly with his soft lips parted. He yawned and reached up pulling the curtains closed around the bed.

It was just after nine, two of his dorm mates were up, one was in the bathroom and the last one was still sleeping.

"Hey" Wilkes said his eyes flickering to Remus again. "He any better now?"

Regulus gave a small shrug not wanting to shake the bed too much and wake him up effectively upsetting him even more. "If you're going down for breakfast can you bring us both up some toast please?"

"Okay" said Wilkes looking to Remus again.

"He said earlier he isn't up to eating anything yet but he might be hungry in a bit" Regulus said his eyes following Wilkes' gaze to the sleeping older boy.

When Wilkes and the others finally went, Remus began to stir.

"Hey" Regulus spoke gently still laying comfortably under the covers despite the fact he'd been up to brush his teeth, have a wash and a drink before getting back into bed.

Remus stretched out under the covers and winced before curling himself back into a ball. "Hello" he said quietly gazing at Regulus with very sad, blue eyes.

A little while later and the other's brought some food up, Regulus at quickly but Remus struggled to nibble at his.

There was a soft knock at the door shortly after and the older boy's came in looking concerned when they saw Remus buried in the nest of covers with Regulus sitting reading beside him.

"Hi there" Avery offered Remus a gentle smile.

Remus said nothing.

Avery moved over and knelt down at the boy's side, the bruising around his nose was evident and he was obviously extremely upset. He spoke in a low voice so nobody other than Remus could tell what he was saying, he knew Remus could hear clearly due to his heightened wolf senses. "Look, I know what happened to you and you don't need to fear me I won't hurt you and I know we haven't really gotten off on the best of terms but I want to offer you my help and my protection and you know how easily I can protect you" he breathed a flash of red appearing in his iris'.

Remus sniffed and nodded slowly. "Thank you" he whispered. "Who did this to you?"

"James and Sirius" Remus breathed looking into Avery's eyes.

Avery nodded once with understanding. "Now that I know I can watch, I'll smell them if they come close, I'll be able to help you and I think what they did is sick, twisted and awful"

"I didn't do anything" Remus began to sob catching everyone's full attention. "They said it was because I told on them for having brought in some contraband fireworks and because I mouthed off at them earlier in the week for being rude to me when I was quiet…."

Regulus gasped his eyes widening as he stared at Remus.

Severus sighed heavily shooting a pitying look at the boy.

Everybody else looked worried and slightly confused.

Avery's eyes were turning a dark shade of blood red very slowly. "They raped you because of that?!" he gasped.

Everybody heard.

There were mixed sounds of disgust and shocked noises echoing around the room as Remus continued to sob quietly nodding his head very slowly.

"People like that are sick and twisted!" said Regulus nastily. "They deserve to be locked in Azkaban!"

"They won't be but they will be in serious trouble if you just reported-"

Avery was cut off by an even louder sob from Remus. "NO! I don't want to tell anyone, can't you understand how ashamed I am right now?!" he cried.

"Yes but they would get their-"

"Later" Remus argued. "And nobody had better tell anyone about this I just can't cope with people finding out right now!" he continued to cry into the pillow.

"We won't tell anyone" said Evan. "You might not think we're very much because we're in Slytherin but we wouldn't betray someone like that over something so fucking awful" he said again wrinkling his nose slightly with disgust.

"I don't think bad of anyone unless they've done something to me" Remus hiccoughed. "None of you have actually done anything wrong…."

They sort of exchanged looks knowing just how horrible this must be for Remus and how awkward it would be being down in Slytherin with people he thought hated him.

"Is there anything you want?" Severus offered. "Food or anything?"

"I'm okay, thank you" Remus said quietly.

"Will you be staying here tonight?" Regulus asked a sudden thought crossing his mind.

"If that's okay…." Remus said rather nervously.

"Yes" Regulus smiled. "Absolutely fine" he breathed.

"Then…. What about my uniform? I can't go back there and get it, I really can't…." the Werewolf shuddered nervously.

"Well…." Avery said thoughtfully. "One of us will go down to the laundry room and find your stuff and bring the clean bits back for you, did you throw any of it out yesterday or the day before or something that you haven't had back yet?"

"Yes, I threw some out Friday evening and it was taken on Saturday morning" Remus sniffled slightly.

"We can go and get it" said Evan nodding lazily to Mulciber. "Come on, before they end up taking it back to Gryffindor, then we'll never get him some clothes back"

"Let's go then" said Mulciber casually.

They both shot Remus sad, sympathetic looks before leaving the dormitory once again.

"We'll give you people a chance to talk" the younger boy said leaving the three of them alone.

"I suppose you're going to tell people and laugh at me now, right?" Remus sniffled sadly.

"None of us are going to tell anybody a thing about this" said Severus. "Unless you want us to, I know we might not be on the best of terms but that was fucking disgusting what they did to you and completely unfair"

"I deserved it…."

"NOBODY deserves that" said Avery quickly.

"I was a virgin" Remus began to sob all over again. "Now I can't give myself to someone I love"

"Yes you can" smiled Regulus. "It'll be in a different way because they forced you to do it and you didn't give yourself away to someone nice"

Remus gazed up into Regulus' face and smiled gently. "Thank you, that really helps" he breathed.

"Was it very painful?" Severus breathed.

"I tried to scream" Remus swallowed. "But they were…." His face was on fire with the shame and humiliation. "At both ends?"

Severus felt sick.

"They changed when Sirius was done first and he made me suck him as well…." Remus covered his face with his hands. "It was awful, I'll never forget it, never!"

"Nobody expects you to forget about it but things will improve in time" Regulus smiled gently.

"Listen to him, he's actually got good advice" Avery smiled gently as Severus moved over to his side to cuddle him.

"I'm sorry for dumping this on all of you and for being a right whiny little bastard" Remus said very quietly and very sadly.

"No and anyone can see you're ready to break down over this" Severus said his voice mixed with concern.

"How can I ever show my face again?" Remus whimpered. "I'm completely torn and humiliated!"

"You can show your face to prove that you are better than these people" Regulus smiled again gently. "You can show them you aren't afraid of them"

"But I am"

"Doesn't matter, you show them that you're stronger than they are and they haven't won and you're above them, they're worthless compared to you" Regulus went on his smile spreading across his face when he saw the thoughtful look on Remus' own face. "You'll be okay and if you really want we can tell people you're ill so you can stay down here until you're ready to come back out again"

Remus sniffed and nodded. "That would be good, thank you" he breathed.

Quite some time passed before the boys arrived back carrying Remus' things.

"It was a bit of a mission but we managed it" Evan breathed resting Remus' things down on the end of the bed. "Took us a lifetime to look through all that lot"

"Thank you very much" said Remus glancing nervously at the two of them. "Did you…. See them?"

"No" said Mulciber. "Haven't seem then at all today"

"Okay" said Remus casually. "That's good"

Most of the day passed and Remus had not improved, he stayed in bed curled up worrying and barely eating. Regulus frowned to him with concern at every opportunity, the boy was a wreck and Regulus felt really sorry for him. It must be awful to feel the way Remus felt at that very moment, to have your whole world brought down in ruins around you whilst someone else lit a match and danced on your burning deck, to strip away your innocence and your chances like that, to destroy any self-confidence or enjoyment from him was unspeakable and they deserved to be seriously punished for it.

"Regulus?" Remus asked just after dinner that evening.

"Yeah?" Regulus spoke softly.

"Would you mind if I had another bath tonight?"

"Fine by me" Regulus smiled. "As long as I can supervise"

"Supervise?" Remus blinked. "You think I'm going to top myself, don't you?"

Regulus made a move as though to nod or perhaps shrug but changed his mind mid-way and it looked more like an awkward tick than anything else. "I want to supervise"

"Alright" Remus swallowed and closed his eyes back over again.

….

"Baby loves you, Severus" Avery smiled as he gently ran the palm of his hands over his lover's growing baby bump. "He thinks you're brilliant"

Severus' heart swelled with pride and joy. "I love him too and I think he's brilliant, better than brilliant actually, he's amazing and so perfect" he breathed.

"A few more months and he will be in your arms" Avery smiled warmly. "You'll have just given birth to him and he will be so beautiful and wanting cuddles from us"

"I know, wow" Severus breathed gazing down at his tummy as his boyfriend pressed his lips to it.

Evan and Mulciber looked nervously to them and then to each other. Was it really such a good idea to allow deadly, venomous vampire fangs right against a baby bump where the unborn little boy was growing? Severus seemed to think so….

Severus sighed quietly as Avery shuffled up to give him a cuddle, kissing him softly on the forehead. "I feel like we should do something for Lupin"

"I know" said Avery. "I think I'm gonna make sure I pay those awful humans back for what they did" he said his jaw flexing in anger.

"I feel sort of bad for what we were going to do to him with the whole almost blackmail thing" Severus said chewing on his bottom lip. "Maybe it's my hormones talking, maybe they're to blame for my weird feelings now…."

"No I think it's your human conscience, you feel the need to protect someone who has been through this especially when the monsters are getting away with it, you're also pregnant so you know what it's like to have a baby and you're by instinct wanting to protect someone else's"

"I think you're probably right" Severus sighed. "I love you"

"I love you too" Avery smiled leaning in for a kiss.

"Promise me you won't get yourself kicked out of school or anything over this" Severus frowned slightly when they pulled apart. "I don't want you in trouble over them, they aren't worth it, besides you have a baby on the way and you're a dad you have to be able to look after the baby with me"

"I won't do anything of the sort, I promise" Avery breathed gently touching the side of Severus' face. "Now I think it's time we went to sleep, you must be tired"

Severus flushed a tiny bit and nodded shyly with admittance. "I do get tired really easily…."

"Well, let's have a quick snog before bed then" Avery grinned.

Severus chuckled softly. "Don't mind if I do!" he grinned leaning in and kissing his boyfriend softly on the lips.

….

When Remus climbed out of the bath feeling tired and still a bit sore he pulled on his clothes whilst Regulus turned his back to respect the boy's privacy and his body even though Remus really didn't feel like he had much respect for himself at the moment.

When Regulus turned around, Remus did something incredibly surprising. He moved forward and wrapped his arms gently around Regulus' waist.

Regulus jumped slightly with surprised but wrapped his arms slowly around Remus too.

"Thank you for looking after me" Remus breathed softly hugging Regulus a little tighter.

"Don't mention it" Regulus whispered back. He felt shocked but at the same time it was nice, he'd done a good deed and this was Remus' way of thanking him for it. "You didn't deserve what they did to you at all, you're such a nice person"

"Thanks" Remus smiled gently.

When they pulled apart they headed back into the dorm, people tried not to shoot sympathetic looks to Remus because they thought it might upset him a little more.

Regulus changed and slipped into bed beside Remus whom, much to Regulus' surprise, hugged him again and lay there hugging him with his eyes closed.

The other boys shot them looks and confused expressions but Regulus just smiled back at them. Remus didn't mean any harm and he was obviously very grateful for everything Regulus had done but on top of all of that the poor boy was struggling with his inner feelings right now and needed someone to be there for him and support him the way he so desperately needed and Regulus was very willing to do something like that.

When the next morning arrived, Remus refused to go to lessons.

"I'll stay with him for a day to make sure he's okay" said Regulus.

"You still think I'm going to hurt myself, don't you?" Remus frowned slightly without opening his eyes.

"Mate it would be weird for you not to want to do that" said Wilkes.

Remus sighed and curled up properly under the covers again, he knew they were right but he was also trying to make himself be strong. He didn't actually want to hurt himself but he felt he might if left alone to go mad for too long. He needed to express himself….

….

Severus and Avery were on their way very excitedly to the hospital.

"I can't believe I'm already five months pregnant!" Severus beamed his dark eyes sparkling with joy. "Time sure flies, huh?"

"Definitely" Avery nodded. "I can remember that night we did it like it was just yesterday" he chuckled softly.

"That's because you're immortal, to you it WAS yesterday" Severus chuckled softly earning a playful, toothy grin from Avery that of course flashed off his enormous fangs.

They made their way into the hospital wing and Madame Pomfrey greeted them with a warm, tender smile. "Hello, boys"

"Good morning" Severus smiled gently as they followed her across the quiet, warm room and through the medical curtain.

"How have you been feeling recently, Severus?" the woman asked curiously.

"Very well actually" said Snape. "I seem to be improving drastically by the day now even if I am still getting tired and sometimes strangely emotional over small things"

"That's very normal and will continue to happen throughout your pregnancy, you're in your second trimester and it's the most comfortable stage, right now you'll be a comfortable size, baby will be kicking softly, you won't feel too drained, heavy, itchy or have intense symptoms but you will still feel nicely pregnant, you have your pregnancy glow and that is very evident, your body is at a great time right now so cherish it and enjoy yourself as much as possible because once you start to get really big you won't be as happy or as comfortable as you were before" the nurse smiled as Severus climbed up on the bed and she snapped on some clean latex gloves.

Severus and Avery both moved the clothes to expose the growing bump. Madame Pomfrey smiled at it as she spread the gel around with her fingers and then stepped back shoving the tube in the front pocket of her white frilly apron.

She lifted the scanner from the side, tapped her wand three times to the stop and moved to hover it over Severus' skin.

"Ready?"

Severus and Avery looked to one another before nodding with bright grins on their faces.

And with that the nurse pressed the scanner down moving it until the picture of their little boy appeared on the screen before their very eyes once again.

"He's so much bigger now, even in two weeks!" Severus' eyes widened with utter surprise. "I mean, I know I'm getting bigger and he's growing but he looks quite a bit bigger now"

"Yes he measures eleven inches, a fraction over in fact, and weighs just over a full pound now" the nurse smiled warmly.

"Four months to go" Avery grinned with delight. "Then he's finally here!"

"Correct" Pomfrey nodded. "The hands are bigger, stronger and have a good sense of touch now so he's probably touching his face and the umbilical cord to get some good practises in for when he's born in, yes, around four months"

"Wow" Severus breathed his eyes welling with fresh, hot tears again.

The nurse tapped her wand to the machine so his heart filled the air around them. Avery gave Severus' hand a warm, loving squeeze. It was so beautiful and they both felt and knew it.

"He's also got a crop of short, white hair as the baby's hair at this stage always lacks pigment but my guess would be that he will have black hair when he's here" she smiled gently to them and they both started to laugh playfully.

"He has also started developing his taste buds so he can taste the amniotic fluid flavours if he wants to, and probably does fairly often enough which is normal and fine, he probably doesn't actually like the taste of it but does it because he can" she smiled again.

They watched the screen and listened to the heart for a good ten minutes more before the nurse concluded that the baby was perfectly normal and healthy and removed the scanner pressing to print and handing a tissue over to Severus to clean up with.

Avery made a fuss cleaning up his lover and replacing the clothes before zipping around the bed when the nurse wasn't looking to help him down before he even had the chance to do it for himself.

"Any problems, questions, concerns and such come back and see me otherwise your next scan is in four weeks at six months" she smiled warmly.

Severus and Avery were beaming with joy as she handed over the photographs to them of the moving, flickering little baby boy there.

"Thanks, Madame Pomfrey!" Severus beamed.

"Yes, thank you we really appreciate all of your care and help" Avery smiled gently.

"My pleasure, boys, go and enjoy your day"

They left the hospital wing happier than ever and for a brief amount of time they actually forgot about Remus. Which wasn't all that bad to be honest because they did have their own lives and their baby to deal with too….

At the breakfast table, Severus and Avery were waiting with their eyes on the Gryffindor table like a pair of hawks. People weren't saying much today in their little group and kept shooting copious glances towards the door.

Eventually after some time, James, Sirius and Peter all came strolling in very casually chatting and laughing like nothing was wrong.

"How can they do that?" Mulciber frowned wrinkling his nose in utter disgust. "How can they possibly treat people in that manner and then come in here laughing and joking together, it's disgusting!"

"That's people for you" said Severus. "They'll never learn, they're a disgrace"

"Humans like them deserve the bad things they get, they deserve to suffer, they disgust me" Avery said aggressively glaring at them.

Evan and Mulciber swallowed and looked worriedly to one another and then to Severus whom seemed to be very calm about this whole thing. Perhaps it was just them overreacting about these things, perhaps it was just them being worried about Avery when they really didn't need to be, the boy hadn't hurt anyone after all and he didn't seem to have any intentions to either….

They watched the three boys sitting down still talking and started eating together not even remotely fussed over the fact that Remus wasn't with them. They saw Lily go over and say something to them, they laughed, shrugged and carried on with their food and James Potter trying to leer after her too.

"I do have to wonder if he might consider doing something similar to her" Avery said his eyes narrowing dangerously. "I wonder if he considers doing it to other people besides Remus"

"I don't know, I think it would be too risky" said Severus. "I think maybe trying to do that to Lily would be too far, Remus isn't the type to report it or blab it round to the whole world but she is" he sighed softly.

They finished eating breakfast with their eyes mainly on the Gryffindor boys whom hadn't seemed to notice and by potions, Severus was feeling pretty good about his new week of pregnancy.

"I'm twenty weeks gone now" he grinned as they stood outside the classroom that very same morning.

"Wow, congrats" Mulciber nodded.

"Exciting" Evan chuckled softly.

Avery took one of the pictures from his pocket showing it to his friends who grinned with approval.

"Aw, he's bigger!" said Mulciber happily.

"He's eleven inches long!" said Severus proudly.

"And weighs little over a pound" Avery added excitedly.

"He's gotten his growing shit down now then" Evan chuckled softly. "You called him Rory, right?"

They nodded.

"Cute" said Evan and Mulciber together.

The Marauders minus Remus arrived just as Slughorn was opening the classroom door. Snape looked up his eyes narrowing at them slightly, they didn't even seem remotely bothered by the fact their friend was missing and abused and no doubt wanted to die because of them.

Hatred welled up in Severus' chest, how could people be so cruel? He knew they were bad but not like this!

They filed into the classroom dropping into their seats.

"So now that you're like, five months pregnant?" Mulciber queried quirking one eyebrow.

Severus nodded.

"What are you gonna do?"

"What do you mean?" Severus frowned slightly with confusion.

"I mean, it sounds like a pretty big mark, five whole months of being pregnant, seems kinda huge to me" Mulciber mused thoughtfully.

"It feels huge" Severus chuckled softly.

Avery winked to him making him blush madly and groan covering his face with his long, baggy sleeves.

"Oh don't be so gross!" Evan wrinkled his nose with disgust. "You just enjoy ruining things, don't you?"

"You're one to talk…. Spanky…." Avery smirked watching Evan's face go up in flames.

He grumbled several swear words under his breath and turned his attention away from the boy most irritably.

Avery just laughed.

"Well then boys, where's Mr Lupin today?" Slughorn asked as the lesson had gotten under way.

Severus and Avery's eyes followed to where Slughorn was standing talking to the Gryffindor's, they glanced to one another knowingly for a moment and strained to hear more.

"Oh, he's sick" said Sirius very casually as though nothing at all was wrong.

"Ah, day in bed?" Slughorn asked nodding slowly with understanding.

Peter shrugged a little, James sighed and Sirius nodded.

"Yeah he feels a bit rubbish now, sick, you know?" Sirius said tilting his head to one side.

"Yes my boy, give him my best will you? He very rarely ever misses a lesson" Slughorn smiled to them.

"Is there any homework you want us to pass along?" James asked his eyebrows rising slightly.

"Tell him to read through the chapter we've been over today and that should more than cover him for next lesson" Slughorn smiled gently before he walked away from them seemingly rather satisfied with their answers as to where their friend actually was and why he was missing his lessons so oddly.

Severus and Avery looked aghast as they turned to one another.

"I can't believe he can tell such bare-faced lies like that to a teacher!" Severus hissed quietly.

"I know, they most likely haven't a clue where Remus is and they don't seem to care either" Avery frowned glancing at them aggressively. "They're just pretending like they didn't do anything wrong!"

"But they have" said Severus. "How dare they behave like this!"

"They obviously never cared all that much" Evan jumped in. "They wouldn't rape him over trivial things if they did consider him a true friend, they obviously don't rape each other or that annoying little Pettigrew kid…."

"I wouldn't exactly call Pettigrew little, Rosier" Mulciber commented. "I hope that poor kid comes out okay after all this even if he is a Gryffindor"

"And a half-blood" said Evan quietly.

"I'm half" Severus blinked. "You don't treat me badly"

"That's because you're my friend, my dorm mate, a Slytherin and you're pregnant…." Evan sighed softly. "You also don't behave like a half at all people could very easily confuse you with somebody pure"

"You think?" Severus blinked feeling rather flattered his friends thought that much of him.

"I think so too" Avery smiled. "You don't act half you act more pure"

"Wow" Severus' cheeks were glowing faintly with joy. "Great, I guess!"

At around lunch time, Regulus had gone down to the kitchens to swipe them both some food. When he returned, Remus was sitting up and had actually gotten changed into some casual, baggy clothes.

Remus was just sitting on the bed with his hands on his stomach gazing into space with a blank expression on his rather handsome face.

"Hey, here's some food" Regulus smiled moving over to the bed with a big platter of various things for them to both share.

Remus smiled gently.

"Don't say you're not hungry because I want you to eat" Regulus said quickly just as Remus opened his mouth to argue. "Have whatever you like, look, prawn crackers, didn't you say you liked those?"

"I do" Remus smiled taking a handful and shovelling them down to be polite. "Mm, they're still warm…."

Regulus found himself laughing easily with Remus, it was nice to see that he was actually getting somewhat better now.

They ate in silence for a few moments.

"So how are you feeling now then? You look a little brighter"

"I feel a bit better physically but emotionally I don't, I'm almost numb, almost but not quite there, you know?"

Regulus nodded, he sort of knew what Remus was talking about, last summer he went through a bit of depression and found it difficult to cope with things. Yes, even pureblood, aristocratic young boys who had the Earth could become depressed. Regulus put it down to an increase in hormones or something else to do with his age, that was the most likely solution. His mum had struggled to get him out of his room, he would just sit there staring into space for hours on end wasting his life as most depressed people did.

"Do you know what it feels like to have everything taken from you in that way? When they were doing it I felt like a piece of scum, like trash that could be cast aside over nothing" Remus said quietly keeping his eyes focused on the muffin he was currently picking apart.

Regulus' eyebrows furrowed and he nodded slowly. "Talk to me, Remus, you'll feel better soon"

"It's hard to say how I feel" Remus went on flashing a tiny quick smile to the boy. "I feel a mess, I don't even know what to say right now, it's just…. Horrendous, I don't know how to feel and I feel torn apart"

"It wouldn't be normal if you didn't" said Regulus. "I'm here for you, okay? I hate to see someone so down especially when you seem like a genuinely nice person"

"I wouldn't hurt anything" Regulus said sadly.

"I've always tried my hardest to be kind to people, to treat them with respect and how I would want them to treat me, I've never hurt anyone physically, emotionally and especially not sexually, I don't have it in me and I don't understand people that do…." Remus went on.

"Nobody understands it apart from other people like that, they're not normal people, they're monsters and they don't deserve to be friends with you" Regulus smiled gently. "People don't hate you, Remus, not at all, at least what I've heard about you has all been very good actually"

Remus sniffled a little and smiled into Remus' face.

"You're more popular than you realise, those savages that called themselves friends aren't worth your time of day and they aren't worthy of even sharing the same air as you, they aren't the same species, they're wild savages with no manners, low intelligence and the capacity to do such horrific things to innocent people" Regulus continued. "Don't let them get away with ruining your life, you can be much stronger than this, I know you can" he smiled supportively resting a hand on Remus' knee.

Remus smiled to him again. "Thanks for helping me…."

"Just do me a favour and keep getting stronger and rise above it, nobody expects you to fake a smile and say you're okay when you aren't, but people want you to be happy and safe"

"I feel safe down here in the dungeons, like people can't get to me or hurt me ever again" Remus said quietly as he took some more prawn crackers. "People don't seem to understand these things until they've witnessed it or faced it for themselves"

"Maybe one day you will feel ready to report them, people report after years passing because they weren't ready to begin with, they couldn't take the stress and the pressure of it but when they are ready they even confront the people that did this to them and ask them why they would do such a thing"

Remus shuddered visibly and Regulus chose to end that right then and there, it may not be helping very much….

"Maybe….. maybe one day I will feel ready" Remus breathed. "But for now I want to just think it over and my head straight"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yes" said Remus very quietly.

"Do you want to get better? To improve from this state?" Regulus asked looking straight into those soft and surprisingly warm, blue eyes.

Remus stared. "Yes" he said finally. "I do want to get better" a tiny smile flickered across his features.

Regulus felt incredibly relieved for now….

….


	15. Chapter 15

Tuesday morning came and Remus woke feeling like complete and utter crap. His eyes opened slowly and he groaned in utter misery. He barely slept last night, it was awful, he was woken every so often trembling and frightened, the nightmares that plagued him were graphic and the memories of what had happened too painful to relieve. He was exhausted by there was little he could actually do about it.

"Remus?" Regulus asked sleepily but the boy just yanked the covers up over his head. Regulus sighed softly in dismay and sat up, "are you feeling any better this morning?"

"No" Remus breathed.

Regulus shot him a sympathetic look that he hoped wasn't powerful enough to actually penetrate the bedding and he would know he was doing it. Regulus knew that Remus really didn't want any pity or sympathy from anyone because it just made him feel even worse.

...

About half an hour later...

"Hey" a softer male voice spoke to Remus and the boy tensed, "how are you?"

Remus didn't say anything, he just lifted back the covers to look into Avery's overly handsome face.

Avery sighed softly and tried to prevent the look of sympathy from crossing his face just like Regulus did, "we're still all here for you if you need anything" he said as Regulus got up and slipped from the bed to sneak out of the dormitory and give the two of them some alone time together.

Regulus wasn't very surprised to find Severus standing outside the door with a worried expression written across his face.

"How is he?" the older boy asked.

Regulus gave a sigh and pursed his lips.

"That bad, huh?"

"He seems to have deteriorated this morning, I tried to get him to eat but he won't and he's just lying there under the covers, Will's in with him now" Regulus glanced back at the closed door.

Severus sighed softly, "I don't think there's much we can actually do about that apart from talk to him and let him know that we're here to support him"

"He's still really upset..." Regulus said sadly.

"I know and I wish there was something more we could do for him but if he won't report it then there's not a lot we can do"

"I'm worried about him..." Regulus breathed, his grey eyes downcast.

Severus was quiet for a few moments, they both were.

"I think maybe he needs to go to the hospital..." Severus said in a very quiet, gentle voice.

Regulus looked up immediately, his eyes wide and his lips parted, "you want him to go to the hospital over this?!"

"I think he really needs some help or someone to talk to, he's obviously starting to get depressed..." Severus spoke slowly, a look of concern on his face, genuine concern. Regulus could sort of understand it now that Severus was pregnant, the boy stood there with one hand resting on his hip, his growing baby bump showing through his clothes. Regulus swallowed.

"He's not going to want that, he'll hate us if we try to make him..."

"I know but he obviously needs something, if he becomes depressed then Merlin knows what will happen to him" Severus said quickly, his voice low. "I don't want to see him end up forced into hospital because of his actions or his mood issues"

"He was _raped_, Severus," Regulus hissed, "he needs his friends more than anything or anyone else and we can be his friends, just look at him lying in there!"

Snape pursed his lips a little, "I just think that maybe he needs to go and calm down and see about getting some proper treatment, for his own good, I know it could be drastic..."

"He's not even ready to report it yet let alone go through all of that psychological evaluation shit!"

"I know, but-"

"Stop trying to make him do things he doesn't want to do!" Regulus argued, his fists by his side.

"Regulus I know you care about him and I don't think he needs to go today, I'm just saying that if he gets any worse maybe we should think about asking the nurse for a little bit of help. She'll know what to do in his case..." the boy said mildly.

Regulus swallowed, a muscle in his jaw flexing. Severus was pregnant, he was carrying a baby and he saw this terrible thing happen to someone else's baby, what could be worse? Of course he wanted to understand and help, the instinct was in him now to help and protect someone innocent and vulnerable.

The dormitory door opened before anyone could say anything else and Avery looked out, "you think he should go to hospital?" Will blinked, looking to Severus.

"Not today and not necessarily, I just think he really needs something to make him a bit better, he's really down and it's not healthy" Severus spoke gently to his lover.

Avery smiled at him, "I do agree with you on that, Severus"

"But what about what Remus wants?" Regulus hissed so the boy couldn't hear him.

"I think for now he's going to be okay as long as we keep a very close watch on him and try to figure out some other way of doing this. Regulus, he obviously really likes you being there for him and you're helping him so keep doing what you're doing but you MUST let us know if he gets any worse than this or he starts becoming dangerous to himself or other people, that includes talking about death or anything awful" Avery said, looking to the younger boy firmly.

Regulus flinched a little, he was obviously a little bit frightened of Avery. He swallowed and nodded and slipped past him into the dormitory again.

Severus and Avery watched him sit on the bed beside Remus and gently rest a friendly hand on his shoulder offering him some more support.

Avery closed the door and turned to his boyfriend with a soft sigh.

"We need to help him..." Severus breathed, a hand on his growing baby bump. "He really needs our help, so desperately"

"I know and I wish I could just go and tear their fucking throats out and make them suffer for making him suffer" Avery said through gritted teeth.

"I never thought I'd actually be this caring towards Lupin" Severus swallowed, shaking his head slowly in disbelief, "but he needs us now"

"We should help anyone in need" Will breathed, wrapping his arms around Severus.

Severus leaned up and kissed him slowly.

"I also think we should go," Snape chuckled, "before we're late to lessons, if they aren't going then fair enough, but we can't get away with it forever"

Avery smiled back, "I quite agree with you again, Sev" he breathed.

Taking hands, they headed off to lessons.

...

By lunch time, Remus hadn't eaten anything. Regulus really was trying his hardest to make the boy eat, but he wasn't getting very far.

"I'm just not hungry today..."

"You need to eat something to keep your strength up" Regulus argued.

"Why do I need my strength up? It's not like I'm actually doing anything..."

Regulus sighed softly, "because you could end up weak or sick or losing lots of weight..."

"It wouldn't matter if I did, I'm filthy and tainted anyway, it would be just one less thing to worry about" said Remus, bitterly.

"I'm worried about you" Regulus spoke softly, his eyebrows furrowed deeply with his concern.

"Don't be"

"I can't help it"

"Then try to help it"

Regulus sighed heavily, "please just eat a few slices of banana, for me?" he looked into Remus' face hopefully.

Remus stared right back at him for a few moments before he sighed heavily and took the plate, "fine" he said grumpily and started nibbling some banana.

Regulus felt elated and shot Remus a proud, beaming smile as he watched the boy actually eat something.

...

By the end of the day, Severus and Avery were enraged. They'd had to sit and endure and try their very best to ignore Potter and Black sitting there making up some pathetic lies and sob story that Remus was sick in bed with flu and they would take some homework for him and hope he would be fine and they would nurse him all back to health. The teachers were eating out of the palms of their hands just the way they always did when it came to those two.

"They make me sick" Severus hissed as they sat at the dinner table that evening.

"I don't know how they can live with themselves" Avery pursed his lips in disapproval.

"I don't know how anyone could rape another human being, especially someone they thought was their friend..." Severus breathed, tears prickling in the backs of his eyes.

Avery swallowed and shot him a sympathetic look, "I know this must be hard on you with all the hormones you've got right now..."

"You have no idea" Severus whispered.

...

Try as he might, Regulus couldn't get Remus to eat anything at all for dinner. The boy had lay down on the bed and refused to even sit up. He had only managed to dress half of himself and didn't seem to even remotely care about having a bath today.

"Do you need some more of that cream?" Regulus asked gently.

"Yes" the boy breathed, "not much though because I'm almost healed up"

Regulus swallowed and nodded, "do you need any help getting it on or are you okay?"

Remus hesitated for a moment, "I'm okay, I can do it just fine..." he breathed.

Regulus watched as he snatched the tube he'd just laid out off of the bedside table and sulked into the bathroom, his shoulders hanging heavily and his eyes downcast and filled with tears. He felt utterly sick to his stomach looking at someone in this condition, it wasn't fair on anyone.

Whilst Remus had gone, Regulus tidied up a little bit and changed the bed. His dorm mates had been giving them a pretty wide space and avoiding the dormitory a little to let Remus get some privacy. Despite the fact they weren't too keen on Remus and were even slightly wary of him being there, they were being surprisingly respectful towards the boy.

...

A bit later on and Severus and Avery turned up again with gentle smiles on their faces and a box of chocolates for Remus.

"Oh, thank you" the boy blinked, pleasantly surprised by the generous offer.

"We also went down to the laundry room and found some of your clothes" said Avery, placing the pile gently on the bottom of the bed.

Remus blinked and smiled to them.

Severus sank down slowly on the end of the bed, "look, I know you and I haven't exactly seen eye-to-eye but I'm hoping we can mend that now, especially after everything that went on last year..."

Remus swallowed and looked into Severus' face. Of course, the incident halfway through last year when Snape had discovered him in the shack. Sirius. It was all Sirius' fault, everything seemed to wind back down to either Sirius or James, all this nastiness and all of these problems. Maybe Remus and Severus could have been much more friendly from the off if it wasn't for them, still, Remus was grateful for their friendship then even if it did end up horrific ruins now.

"What happened last year?" Regulus asked, curiously.

Avery glanced from Severus to Remus and back again, it was obvious, wasn't it? The Shack, the issues with Remus' condition. Oh yes, Will had been able to more than sense it since he was turned and frankly he wasn't so surprised that Dumbledore had allowed a werewolf into the school around so many innocent children. The man was a nutter, but then again, who was he to complain? He was a vampire, just as dangerous if not more so, at least Remus could be contained for a few hours once a month, if he went wild then there would be no stopping him.

"Just some silly prank your brother pulled on me trying to get me hurt" Severus waved a hand lazily at the boy, it wasn't his place to tell and besides, the fear of Dumbledore's threat lingered in his mind constantly. He dare not upset Remus...

"_But Professor-" _

"_No buts, Severus" the man spoke calmly, holding up an aging palm to silence the young man. His blue eyes twinkled from behind half-moon spectacles as he looked to James and Sirius. _

_Severus felt a disgusting pang of hatred and jealousy. Why did they always get away with everything? How could they get away with attempted murder, that fucking Black, and he's the one to suffer for it?_

_James shot a nasty smirk to Snape. _

"_Professor I don't think it's fair that-" _

"_Severus I will not ask you again, now, I want you to swear yourself to secrecy about Mr Lupin and his condition and everything you have seen tonight" the headmaster spoke softly but very firmly at the same time. _

_Severus swallowed, his dark eyes sparkling with defiance. _

"_Yeah, Snape, do it" Sirius whispered, a smirk playing on those arrogant lips. _

_Severus felt the rage boiling up inside of him, tears prickled in the backs of his eyes. No, he wouldn't cry. He wasn't going to cry and give them the satisfaction. _

"_Well?" _

_Severus swallowed and clenched his pale little hands into balled fists at his sides. He became aware very quickly that he was shaking, "yes, Professor" he breathed._

"_Because if you should breath a word of any of this to anyone then I will be forced to take action. You will be removed from the school, you won't be allowed back and you will have all qualifications you previously earned stripped, your memory will be modified and we will not accept another person from your family into the school. Am I making myself clear to you, Severus?" _

_Snape held his breath and gave one stiff nod. He hated this, utterly hated it. He could feel James and Sirius' eyes burning on him with their mockery and it made him sick to his stomach. _

_Again they would get away with this. Again those fucking idiots that called themselves the Marauders would get away with murder, pain, stress, threats and all sorts. Dumbledore favoured the Gryffindor's, he always did. _

"_Good, you may leave" the man dismissed them with a nod. _

_James and Sirius got up grinning together like mad sharks as they left, but poor Severus on the other hand left with his head hanging low, his eyes downcast and filled with tears, his long greasy hair hanging around his face lank and disgusting. _

_When they got downstairs so Dumbledore couldn't hear, James and Sirius were in fits of laughter. _

"_What's so funny?" _

"_You, you're always funny, Snape" James snarled. "Ever since you were born people have been laughgina t your pathetic excuse of an existence" _

"_I'm worth more than you are, Potter" Snape snarled. _

"_Ooh, look at him, looks like he's going to cry, eh, Padfoot?" _

_Sirius barked a loud laugh and crossed his arms defiantly over his chest. "As usual, Prongs!" _

_Severus swallowed and fought back the urge to rip out his wand, if he did then he would be expelled immediately and his schooling meant the world to him. The way he was brought up he hadn't gotten much of a chance from the off, but the thought of Hogwarts and being in school was the one thing that kept him going no matter how dark and miserable the times were..._

"_I would be more worried about what your friend Lupin thinks of you exposing his secret like this than what I'm getting up to, Black" Snape said bitterly and walked away. _

_Sirius stopped laughing. _

Severus sighed softly to himself, that was a memory he would never forget but one that he sure wanted to. It only proved everything he ever thought right, he knew he was the underdog and he knew this is what was happening to Remus.

What was involved to make Dumbledore like this? Money? Gifts? Status?

Dumbledore was a great wizard, anyone knew that and Severus knew it but he currently hated to admit it.

"I'll tell you about it some time" Remus said quietly, wrapping his arms around his knees and drawing them to his chest.

Regulus shot him a suspicious look but chose not to question it and just nodded instead.

...

Later on that evening when Severus and Avery were in bed, Severus lay with his hands resting gently on his bump giving it a small, soothing massage.

"Baby kicking you?" Avery asked, quirking a dark eyebrow.

Severus smiled to him and nodded, "yeah, he's kicking" he chuckled softly.

Avery smiled again and gently rested a hand on his boyfriend's bump, feeling the baby kicking and nudging at his hands in return. "Aww, he's so cute!"

"I know, I can't wait until he's born" Severus grinned excitedly, his dark eyes twinkling.

"Which reminds me," said Will, "what exactly are we going to do when he does arrive?"

Severus sighed, his grin faded slightly, "I don't know, I haven't thought too much about it, we need our own place at some point"

"Yeah, we could move in with my parents for a bit?" Avery suggested, raising his eyebrows.

Severus shrugged, "if you want to, I'm not too fussed, my mum wants to see us and the baby, though"

"We could live with her instead if you like" said Avery.

Severus started to laugh, "we're going to have to come to a final decision on this sooner or later because baby will be here in another four months!"

Avery grinned and laughed, "I know, I know"

"We needs jobs, too" Severus sighed heavily, biting his bottom lip.

"Don't worry about money"

"Why not?"

"I said I'd take care of it"

"I can't expect you to pay for everything..." Severus said, furrowing his eyebrows slightly.

"You won't, but once you've had the baby you're not physically going to be fit to work for a while, nor are you going to want to leave him for any period of time" Avery pointed out.

Severus closed his mouth and swallowed, "I guess you're right"

"You see?" Avery chuckled, "I'm rich, I'm pure and I can more than cover the costs and when it comes down to it, I'll get a job for us and for the baby, we'll set him a good example in life"

Severus nodded quickly, "I want him to have all the chances I never got as a child"

Avery shot him a sad look.

Severus smiled and rolled his eyes, "don't go all sympathetic and depressed on me"

Avery chuckled, "can't help it, I love you"

"And I love you too" Severus breathed.

...

When Wednesday morning arrived, so did more misery for Remus.

Regulus sat nervously on the bed behind closed curtains, he really hoped that Severus and Avery wouldn't come this morning because Remus was sitting there shaking, crying silently and digging his fingernails into his arms. He wouldn't exactly call it self-harm, but he would class it as something close to it.

"Remus-"

Remus swallowed and just shook his head. He couldn't speak right now, not now at all.

Regulus sighed softly and nodded with understanding, his eyes turning down to the sheets. The last thing he wanted was for them to come and scream for the nurse when they saw Remus like this, he could only hope that they either didn't come, or that Remus would seem miraculously much better by the time they did.

"I'm just not feeling so good today, you know?" Remus glanced to the other boy.

Regulus nodded slowly with understanding, "yeah, I know" he whispered.

"I don't know what to do with myself..."

_I don't know what to do with you either_, Regulus thought with a soft inner sigh.

...

"We can go and visit him at lunch, he'll start getting tired and angry with us if we keep waking him up in the morning" said Avery as they strolled into the breakfast hall.

People were carrying on as normal, nobody had questioned where Lupin was and nobody really seemed to care either.

Potter and Black were there as usual carrying on and Lily Evans secretly batting her lashes at James.

Severus sighed and rolled his eyes at her. Pathetic, but then again, so were all Muggle-born's.

"The pathetic bitch" said Avery.

Severus chuckled.

"Bet she wouldn't be doing that if she knew what he was really like..." the vampire said, bitterly.

"Bet she would"

"You're probably right there, Severus"

They turned away from the sickening sight.

...

The morning lessons passed in the same way as they had done the last two days. People were slowly starting to grow more and more relaxed seeing as the end of the week was beginning to approach.

By lunchtime, Severus and Avery had gone to take some food to Remus.

"How's he doing?" Severus asked quietly, his eyes flickering to the boy lying sleeping on his side on Regulus' bed. The boy looked thin, sickly and fragile but who could expect anything more from him? He'd been through hell and back, he wasn't exactly going to be looking like a perfect male supermodel, was he?

Nope.

"He's doing okay," Regulus said quietly, a sigh on his voice, "he's tired because he hasn't been sleeping too well"

Severus nodded his understanding and rested a warm bowl of beef stew soup on the side, "I hope he likes it"

"I'm sure he'll love it" Regulus smiled.

Avery leaned over the boy and sniffed at him, "well he smells absolutely fine"

"He is" said Regulus.

"He doesn't look it" Severus commented.

Regulus sighed and fought the urge to roll his eyes, "is there anything you think I can do to help him sleep? He looks a right mess..."

"I don't think there is unless you can get him to take a sleeping draught..." Avery suggested, glancing to Severus.

"I'd be more than happy to make something for him if he needs it" Severus offered quickly, you didn't need to be a genius to know that Snape was the best in the entire year, if not the school, at potions. He could make anything to perfection instantly and he always won the class prizes for them. Despite being in the year below, Regulus had heard more than his fair share of Severus' master achievements in that subject.

Regulus smiled, "I think we'd better ask Remus first and I don't want to wake him, he was up half the night"

Severus nodded with his understanding again, "don't worry, there's plenty of time still" he spoke softly.

...

"You know something I really love about my pregnancy?" Severus breathed, shoving Avery down onto th bed later that day.

"Mm, what's that?" Will grinned excitedly.

"The fact that we can fuck all day, all night, whenever we want and I can use my hormones as an excuse for it" Severus purred softly as he straddled his boyfriend's bare waist which he had just promptly stripped of all clothing.

Avery chuckled softly and accepted the soft lips on his, "I like it too, Severus"

Severus smirked playfully, his eyes dancing with his arousal and excitement.

"Now, sit on my cock!"

"As you wish" Severus breathed and slowly sank down onto his boyfriend's member with a deep, throaty moan. He was so big.

It didn't take long for him to ride to his orgasm pushing Avery over the edge as well. They came with moans of each other's name and Severus flopped down beside his lover.

"One of these days I'm going to explode from pleasure" Severus grinned lazily.

"I don't think you will, I think you'll keep going because you know you need your little arse destroyed more and more often now" Avery purred, kissing the crook of his boyfriend's neck tenderly.

Severus gave a tiny shudder with pleasure, "I love your filthy words"

"I know you do" the vampire purred.

...

"Remus?"

"Yeah?"

"How would you feel about going to visit your parents tomorrow?" Regulus suggested randomly that very same evening.

Remus looked up from the book he was having trouble concentrating on to stare suspiciously at Regulus, "why?"

"I think it might really help you" the concern was evident.

Remus swallowed and shrugged awkwardly, "I don't know..."

"I think it would be good for you" Regulus smiled hopefully.

Remus hesitated again, "I know I can't get away with staying out of lessons every day like this for more than a week, let's be real..." he breathed, "but I don't know what my parents will think of me when they find out..." he sank his teeth worriedly into his bottom lip.

Regulus swallowed, he had to at least try, "Look, why don't you go and see them and come back anytime"

"I'll only go on one condition" Remus said suddenly, looking into Regulus' eyes.

"What's that?"

"That you come with me..."

Regulus swallowed. The prospect of meeting the boy's parents was frightening, especially so seeing as he was the brother of the rapist. But he knew he had to do it, he WANTED to do it. "Yes" Regulus smiled gently, "I'll go with you"

Remus' face actually lit up into a beaming smile and he did something very odd. He hugged Regulus.

...

Remus woke the next morning feeling utterly dazed. His eyes opened slowly to greet a tall goblet of pumpkin juice sitting on the bedside table with the morning paper and his clothes for the day laid out gently on the spare seat just a few short feet away. He blinked in confusion and yawned, his mouth folding into a little o.

"Good morning" Regulus said as he came into Remus' line of vision.

"Morning" Remus breathed, blinking himself awake a little more.

"I think maybe we should get up and ready if we intend to go to your parent's soon..." Regulus swallowed. Despite the fact he sounded fine, it was obvious that he was nervous about today.

Remus managed a tiny, weaky smile, "yeah, I'm still on for it..." he breathed. Sitting up slowly, he rubbed his eyes and sipped some juice before setting to work flipping through the paper. It didn't much interest him after everything that had happened, his mind felt hazy and he just couldn't think straight about anything at all, hence why he hadn't really done any school work whilst he was... away...

Regulus finished off getting ready himself and packed a small holdall bag filled with things he might need if he truly were going to stay with Remus' family.

Remus finished the paper quickly, downed the rest of his drink, had a quick wash and when he came out, Regulus was standing over his clothes holding his wand. Remus was instantly suspicious.

"I was just warming your clothes for you because it's cold outside" Regulus spoke quietly, handing them over to the boy.

Remus found himself smiling, "thank you" he breathed and pulled them on.

The dormitory door opened quickly and Severus leaned in, "hey," he said, his eyes fell on Remus as the boy pulled on a tatty old brown cloak and his Muggle trainers, "going somewhere?" he looked from one boy to the other and back again.

"We're just going to Remus' parents today" said Regulus.

"How are you getting there?" Severus asked, confused.

Remus looked to Regulus for answers.

Regulus hesitated a moment, "I don't know I guess we were just going to ask a teacher or someone to take us there..."

"I can take you" Severus shrugged.

"You'd do that or me?" Remus asked, disbelief in his eyes.

Severus gave another small shrug, "I'm seventeen, I can take you there no problem"

"Is it safe for you to apparate when you're pregnant?" Regulus asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.

"Yeah, people disapparate all the time when pregnant, witches and wizard's bodies are adjusted to these things" Severus chuckled.

"Well... okay... if you're sure" Remus said hesitantly.

"Ready to go?" Avery asked, poking his head round the door.

The two boys looked to one another and nodded, Regulus grabbed his bag and they headed out of the dorm.

...

Anxiety was welling up inside of Remus as they made their way out of the dormitory and through the common room. His cloak conviently covered his body and he lifted the hood entirely shielding his face from view. It wasn't so much that he didn't want the other Slytherin's to know he was down there, it was more so that he didn't want anyone to see him at all in case they knew. Which currently they didn't.

"Don't worry, I'm protecting you" Will said quietly, "nobody is going to hurt you whilst I'm around" he grinned just enough to show his fangs.

Regulus glanced to him warily, it was obvious the boy was still a bit frightened of him even if he hadn't admitted to it yet.

Remus swallowed and nodded his thanks as the boys huddled around him a little closer for security, just to make him feel a bit better.

They made their way out into the entrance hall, a few straggly early students and teachers were about but they weren't paying them any attention as they walked out of the school and into the grounds.

The air was crisp and cold and all three humans gave a little shudder when they walked out. Avery on the other hand wasn't bothered by the cold, he didn't really even feel it.

Although they weren't doing anything actually illegal or wrong, Remus still felt very anxious and kept his eyes down as they walked through the snowy grounds and slipped out of the school gates. He just didn't want to be seen by anyone...

Once they were out of the boundary lines for the school, they walked down the little lane a bit further under the shelter of the trees.

"Are you ready?" Severus asked, holding out both of his hands. His right one was taken by Avery and his left by Regulus whom in turn held their hands out and took Remus'.

Remus swallowed nervously and said his address in a low voice.

Severus nodded slowly and closed his eyes.

They disapparated in a small crack.

...

Remus stumbled slightly as his feet touched the slippery ground in the middle of a long country lane in the middle of nowhere. Nausea washed over him and he clenched his eyes shut, still holding onto Regulus and Avery managing to keep their balance.

Exhaling slowly he finally opened his eyes after a few moments and blinked. The air was still crisp and cool here. His eyes adjusted to the brightness of the white snow as he gazed around.

Avery was supporting Severus the moment they all let go of their hands, they were smiling to one another briefly before the vampire looked up and gazed around. For a moment he thought they were in the wrong place and had landed in some desolate country land, then his sharp eyes slipped through the magical boundaries and landed on the little old grey-bricked farmhouse down the end of a long drive. It was charming in its own way.

"Are we in the right place?" asked Regulus, blinking around looking utterly confused.

"Yes" Remus breathed, making his way forward. He headed along the drive and the other's hurried along to be with him.

Regulus and Severus watched curiously as Remus continued walking and lifted his palm into the air. A strange sensation like warm air mixed with warm jelly washed over them as they passed through the magical guards and boundaries of the house and headed down the long driveway. Regulus found himself gazing up in a curious awe at the house. It was beautiful in its own way, an old farmhouse, very country and very different to where he'd been brought up.

Nobody spoke as they made their way down the driveway.

"Is that a Muggle... that thing a... umm... a..." Regulus tapped a finger to his chin desperately searching for the correct word.

"Car?" Severus quirked an eyebrow.

"Yes!" Regulus nodded quickly, "a car" it was another peculiar thing here that he'd never really seen before despite living in the Islington area of London. It had been forbidden in his family to even so much as speak of Muggle objects let alone go anywhere near them or touch them.

Remus found himself smiling slightly at the innocence of the boy.

They made their way up to the front door and onto the front porch of the house. Remus turned to glance at them, Severus pregnant and worried, Regulus smiling grimly and Avery looking very stark white with dark eyes, long dark lashes and elegant black hair positively glowing in the snow, he was beautiful.

Remus swallowed and turned back to the door, he hesitated a moment before he knocked.

The sound of footsteps caught their attention as someone approached the door, it was unlocked and opened to reveal a man in his forties standing with reading glasses on, wearing his pyjama bottoms, a t-shirt, a jumper and a book tucked under his left arm. He blinked his blue eyes for a moment looking utterly surprised but before he could actually say anything, Remus stepped forward and wrapped his arms around his father bursting into floods of tears.

Mr Lupin looked stunned, his eyes went from Remus to the other boys and his lips parted with shock and confusion. "You'd better come in" he said quietly and stepped aside, guiding Remus with him.

They stepped into the hallway of the house, the warmth washed over them as the door shut and they politely removed their boots and cloaks keeping their eyes down.

"You can go on through and have a seat" the man spoke in a quiet voice gesturing towards the living room.

The boys made their way into the living room and sank down nervously on the sofa exchanging worried glances.

Mr Lupin managed to make his way in after them and sank down into the old armchair beside the little bookshelves. Remus went with him climbing into his lap and hugging him desperately. The man still looked utterly confused.

"Remus, why are you here and not in school? You should be, well, you should be in lessons right now..." Mr Lupin spoke softly, resting a hand supportively on Remus' back.

"I can't be in lessons right now..." his voice was barely above a whisper.

Mr Lupin furrowed his brown eyebrows in confusion, "why not?" he breathed.

Remus tensed up stiff as a board.

His father looked to where the other boys were sitting on the sofa all looking equally as nervous and concerned for Remus, but none of them looked confused. They obviously knew something he didn't. "Are these your friends?"

Remus nodded, "where's mum?"

"She's just out feeding the chickens, she won't be many moments..."

As if by magic, the back door opened and Mrs Lupin came bustling back inside. The sounds of the woman scurrying around filled the air and she came back into the living room intending to talk to her husband. It was evident by the look on her face that she didn't expect there to be five faces staring back at her the moment she walked in.

"Oh, and who is everyone?" she blinked, confused.

"That's William Avery, he's a vampire, and his boyfriend Severus whom is a human," Remus began, nodding to them.

"Avery? I know your mother, a very nice woman indeed" Mr Lupin nodded to him with a little smile, but the concern for Remus never once shifted off of his face.

Mrs Lupin looked slightly frightened for a moment as the prospect of him actually being a vampire but she recovered pretty quickly and shook their hands, "nice to meet you"

"And that's Regulus Black" Remus breathed, nodding to the youngest and most anxious one.

Regulus smiled quickly.

"Black? Black!" Mr Lupin said, his eyes widening slightly. "You're Orion Black's youngest, aren't you?"

Regulus flushed a little and nodded shyly.

"Yes, I know your father, he used to work in my department at the Ministry for a while" Mr Lupin said thoughtfully but he didn't exactly look impressed at the prospect of his father.

"I'm Mr Lupin, Remus' father, but you can call me Lyall" he smiled gently.

"My name is Hope" the woman nodded too.

"Would anyone like some drinks?" Mrs Lupin offered, clapping her hands together.

They murmured their yesses and she went into the kitchen. Regulus listened as she put the kettle on and a minute or two later came back with a tray and handed them all mugs of hot chocolate.

"That should warm you up" she smiled very sweetly.

"Thank you" they breathed and began to sip.

There was an awkward silence for a few moments.

"Remus, although you're not heavy, you're still a little bit big to be doing this..." Mr Lupin winced slightly.

Remus didn't say anything, just hugged his dad tighter. Mr and Mrs Lupin exchanged worried glances.

"Shouldn't you be in school right now?" Hope asked softly.

Remus gave a half shrug, half nod in response.

The boys finished their drinks quickly.

"We'd better be going now, we still have first lessons to get to" William said, standing up holding onto Severus' hand.

"Yes, thank you for the hot chocolate, Mrs Lupin, it was very nice" Severus nodded.

"My pleasure" she smiled sweetly.

Seeing as Mr Lupin couldn't go with her to see them to the door because of Remus, Mrs Lupin went on her own. They listened in silence, Regulus fidgeting his feet around awkwardly on the sofa, until she came back with a soft sigh.

It only took but a moment for Remus to burst into floods of tears again.

"Sweetie, whatever is the matter we can only try to help you..." Mrs Lupin spoke softly as she gently stroked Remus' back. The boy stiffened under her touch as though he didn't want her to touch him but Regulus knew that probably wasn't the case...

"I can't tell you because you'll hate me and you'll be disappointed in me and you won't want me anymore..." the boy continued to sob desperately.

"We won't be angry with you or disappointed at all," Mr Lupin breathed, "are you in some sort of trouble?"

Remus swallowed and gave a half shrug keeping his eyes fixated on his dad's shirt.

"Then what is it?" Mr Lupin asked softly, petting his son's soft blonde hair very affectionately. Regulus could only see it as in a way that his father had never done so to him when he was upset, it was obvious how deeply the couple cared for their son. Remus was sniffling a few times hard trying to control himself enough to talk, they remained that way in silence for a few more moments, both of the parents looking equally as nervous and edgy about what Remus would come out with next.

"They... raped me..." Remus sobbed into his dad's shoulder whom he refused to let go of.

The room suddenly went very still and silent, Regulus swallowed, despite the crackling fire the room seemed to have dropped in temperature quite dramatically.

Regulus swallowed, his eyes fell on Mrs Lupin whom stared, her lips parting slightly and her eyes filling with tears of disbelief, "no..." she whispered.

Mr Lupin's eyes sparkled with fresh hot tears, and Regulus swallowed, shuffling his feet around anxiously on the floor.

"Remus-"

Remus sniffed hard, tears still spilling down his soft cheeks, "a few days ago, last weekend..." he choked out, "they... took turns on me at... both ends..." he bgan to sob harder.

Regulus had to fight the almost overpowering urge to vomit, his stomach was churning angrily and his sweaty palms gripped at one another until his knuckles turned white. It was sickening, utterly sickening.

Mr Lupin had tears spilling down his face, his eyes were pink and his lips pursed tightly into a line, there was no hiding it, he was utterly distraught.

Mrs Lupin on the other hand was doing a much better job at keeping things together, her eyes were downcast and her lips steady but the anger was creeping up her slender neck in a red blotchy stain and her tears were dripping from her small, pointed chin.

Remus continued to sob his heart out, clutching desperately at his father in hopes he would make it all better.

"Why didn't you tell us before now?" Mrs Lupin's voice was soft, it was evident she was good at controlling it despite the fact she looked so upset for her only son.

"Because I was afraid of what you'd think of me that I'm dirty or-" Remus cut himself off as the hard sobs wracked through his body and he buried his face in his father's neck again.

Mr Lupin swallowed the solid lump that had shot into his throat, his teeth clenched and the tears were still streaming down his cheeks, his own shoulders began to shake and he truly was struggling to control his emotions right now. "We don't think you're dirty or anything else..." he breathed, looking helplessly to his wife.

"Did they hurt you?" she asked softly, still in tears as she petted her son's back again.

Remus stiffened, "yes, they made me bleed and I just don't know what to do anymore!" he sobbed even harder.

Lyall swallowed hard, this wasn't something he was expecting to deal with. Instead of getting up and making all kinds of threats, demanding to know more, demanding they be locked away, he did the best thing he could possibly do for Remus. He held the boy and let him cry.

Hope closed her eyes, tears still trickling down her cheeks as she rested her forehead against the arm of the chair and sighed softly, rocking herself back and forth as she did so.

Regulus sat and gave a tiny shiver, tears were spilling down his own face. He felt awful, truly and utterly awful for what had happened to the boy.

"Shh, we'll make everything all right again..." Mrs Lupin cooed to the helpless boy.

Remus sniffed hard and looked up to where Regulus' was sitting, he stuck out an arm towards him and Regulus didn't need to be a genius to know what he was looking for. He got up from his seat, made his way over to Remus and crouched down to where Remus was allowing himself to be pulled into a hug. He in turn wrapped his arms around Remus, allowing himself to cry silently, he was a Black, he was trained for this type of thing.

Remus continued to sob as his parents enveloped him in cuddles.

...

"I really do hope everything is okay with Lupin" Severus said, his dark eyebrows furrowing as he sat in lessons that morning.

"He'll be fine," Avery reassured him with a tiny sympathetic smile, "he's in the best possible hands he could be in, it's obvious his parents love him and they'll take good care of him. Besides, he has Regulus there with him"

Severus' face turned into a tiny smile, his eyes gave the smallest of hopeful sparkles as he looked to his boyfriend, "I really hope that something special happens between them, I can see it happening, Regulus obviously cares for him"

Avery smiled back and gently took Severus' hand in his own, "I hope so, too" he breathed.

Snape's eyes flickered over to where James and Sirius were lounging about laughing and throwing things like a pair of pathetic apes, his dark eyes narrowed dangerously, "it makes me SICK that they're still sitting there pretending like nothing happened!" he snarled.

"I know," Avery swallowed, shooting them a death glare himself, if only he could make them drop dead with it, "but there isn't much we can do without exposing his secret..."

"We're going to have to tell Slughorn today where Lupin is and Black, too" Severus nodded.

"I know, and professor McGonagall, too" the boy breathed.

They turned their attention away from the sickening cunts.

"Try not to think too much about it, baby doesn't need you stressed out too" Will said softly, gently massaging Severus' lower back.

The boy swallowed and nodded, if only he could make things better, then he would.

...

The Lupin's living room was still cold and still despite the fire crackling. Remus was still crying into his father's shoulder and gradually over time, it began to ease off.

They remained that way for quite some time, the clock on the wall ticking away slowly as they all cried. Regulus felt awful, he truly had never felt so bad for or about anything in his entire life.

After some time, Remus finally calmed down past the sniffling and sobbing and moaning stage until he slumped against his dad's shoulder in silence. Mr Lupin glanced to the other two as they gently pulled back, pity filling their hurt eyes.

Regulus watched as the man carefully rose to his feet still lifting Remus with him. It was lucky he wasn't too old because Remus was skinny, but he still had some height to him. The man made his way across the room silently, he turned back and nodded at Regulus to follow him.

Nervously, Regulus rose to his feet with Mrs Lupin at his side, he hesitated a moment and she gently touched his shoulder with a small hand. He swallowed and looked to her, smiling gently before he turned and followed Lyall out into the small hallway and up the little wooden staircase.

Curious, it was, the stairs creaking slightly under his feet with the old treadbare runner punched into them. The wallpaper was a faded powder blue and peeling and the entire walk up the staircase was adorned with family photographs. Beautiful photographs of them all smiling and looking to the camera, genuine, happy smiles. They were nothing like the photos Regulus had at his own home, cold, blank and unfeeling, these were true family photographs that could make one smile just looking at them, even if they weren't part of the family.

Lyall walked slowly along the landing as Regulus followed after him, the boy watched as the man turned into the last door at the end of the landing on the right hand side. He went in and Regulus followed to find himself in a pale pink bedroom with soft, old pine furnishings and a large bed. There were books, stories and old battered copies with titles that Regulus didn't even recognise. Muggle stories, no doubt.

He watched as Lyall gently lay Remus down on the bed, an arm draping above his head as he slept. He watched as the man gently covered Remus over with the old bedthrow and pressed a kiss to his forehead before he backed away gently with a weak smile on his face.

"Thank you for helping my son" Lyall breathed, turning his attention on Regulus.

Regulus' lips parted slightly, tears still wet on his cheeks.

"You're the one who found him and helped him, I can't thank you enough," Lyall whispered, stepping a little closer to Regulus and keeping his voice so low that Remus wouldn't be able to hear, "I want you to know that we are truly grateful to you for what you've done..."

Regulus suddenly felt nervous, "it was no trouble," he said quietly, his eyes flickering to Remus, "I saw him, he was running away from the Gryffindor tower in tears, he fell and smashed up his nose so I took him down into the Slytherin dungeons, cleaned him up and he told me..." he swallowed hard. "I am truly sorry for what my brother- that animal- did to Remus, I really am..." his eyes filled with sympathy as he gazed back up into Mr Lupin's face.

The man sighed, his shoulder slumping slightly, "don't apologise for your brother, it isn't your fault what he did..."

Regulus gave a tiny half shrug, "I just wish I could have stopped it before it happened"

Mr Lupin reached out carefully and rested a hand on the boy's shoulder trying to support him, "you did all you can and I really appreciate it, please stay and help Remus, he needs you just as much as he needs us right now..." the man looked into Regulus' eyes with his own blue ones filled with pleading.

Regulus swallowed hard and nodded, "of course. Remus did ask if I would stay with him for a few days, I did bring some things just in case it was okay with you"

"It's more than okay with us, Remus needs a friend and he needs to be able to trust again which could take some time" the man smiled sweetly.

Regulus nodded again with his understanding unsure of what else he could say to comfort Lyall.

"Would you stay up here with him for a bit? Just until he wakes up, I'm sure he won't mind you reading some books or laying beside him, he's a nice boy, Remus is..." his eyes turned pitifully back to his son.

"Of course" Regulus breathed.

"If you need anything then you're more than welcome to come and get a drink or something to eat or go for a little walk outside if you need to, my wife and I will be happy to help..."

"Thank you"

They stared at one another for a few more seconds before the man nodded again, smiled and made his way out of Remus' bedroom, his eyes filled with tears and his shoulder so slumped it looked as though maybe he had given up.

Regulus sighed slowly and watched the door close, he listened to the man's footsteps cross the landing and go back down the stairs and into the living room where he must have stopped to embrace his wife. Regulus swallowed and looked back to Remus. The boy was laying draped across the bed under the throw, the room was perfectly warm but maybe it was to comfort him or help him sleep. He stepped closer to the bed, his grey eyes falling over Remus' puffy pink lips, the pink rings around his eyes, his pallid skin and his blonde hair falling delicately against the pillow. He looked like he was in emotional agony but Regulus thought he had never looked so beautiful...


	16. Chapter 16

A good majority of the day passed with nothing really happening at all. Remus slept on until the early evening when he woke to find his room in utter darkness.

"Hey" Regulus breathed as he gently rested a soft hand on Remus' upper left arm. Remus jumped and whipped around quickly to see him but soon relaxed when he realised it was only Regulus. "I'm not going to hurt you" Regulus smiled again, his voice incredibly soft.

Remus swallowed and rolled over to face him rubbing sleepily at his eyes. "What time is it?"

"Nearly seven" said Regulus as he checked the time on his watch.

"I've been asleep all day?!"

"I guess you feel more comfortable at home, it can't have done you any wrong"

Remus found himself smiling back slightly which was odd enough, all things considered. "Shall we go downstairs now?"

Regulus nodded, they got up and headed back down. Remus' parents were sitting in the living room staring blankly at the crackling fire when they walked in. They both looked up to see the boys and tried to disguise the looks of sympathy and hurt that were trying so desperately to wash across their faces.

"You only just up?" His father cleared his throat nervously trying to sound as casual as possible.

"After struggling to sleep for days out of the sheer terror of it all in the castle... I'm feeling fine now" Remus sighed softly and moved to sit down on the sofa.

"We have some dinner ready for you both, do you want to eat now?" Mrs Lupin offered with a warm smile.

Regulus looked excited. "That would be wonderful, Mrs Lupin" he said.

Remus gave a shrug. "Don't know as I can eat very much at the moment..." he sighed heavily and slumped back in the chair keeping his eyes trained on the floor out of pure and utter shame. His parents knew, they would be seeing him differently now.

"You need to eat, Remus, you can't run on nothing" Remus smiled to him gently. "You've been doing really well for the past few days with your eating, don't spoil it now it's really not worth it"

Remus looked close to tears.

"He's absolutely right, Remus, you need to keep eating" his father said as he moved over to hug his son.

Mrs Lupin got up and went into the kitchen thinking it best that someone dishes up the dinner and they don't crowd poor Remus too much at this extremely delicate time. It was hard seeing her son like this, very hard, and she wanted nothing more than to see those monsters jailed for their crime but right now, Remus was the most important person in all of this and she had to respect his wishes.

"The last thing you want is to start losing weight and end up sick" Regulus said, gently rubbing Remus' arm. "Nobody is worth spoiling your good health over"

"The only person I'm spoiling it over is me..." Remus breathed. "I... I can't... I can't do this..." his shoulders began to shake.

"Yes you can, you're a very strong person, you can more than handle this, Remus" Regulus pressed. "You are such an amazing person you deserve a lot better than what you've been given and you WILL come out of this alive and happy, do you understand me?"

"I hear it, I understand it but I don't believe it" said Remus, shaking his head slowly, his tear-stained cheeks glistening in the light of the fire.

Mr Lupin pulled his son into a tight hug. "Everything is going to be okay, you are going to be okay and we won't rest until those brutes are behind bars where they belong"

Remus burst into floods of tears.

...

It took an hour to get Remus calm enough to sit down and eat his dinner. Mr and Mrs Lupin allowed Regulus to be alone with him and help to feed him. Remus was really struggling with getting the food down and kept stopping and complaining about feeling sick and trying to escape from the table, but Regulus wasn't having any of it.

When they were finally done and Remus had even managed to get a little dessert down him, Regulus went into the living room with Remus again.

Remus lay curled on the sofa pulling the blanket around himself gazing into the crackling fireplace. Regulus sighed softly and went over to sit down next to him, he felt so sorry for Remus. The poor boy just needed a friend right now, he needed someone to talk to or even if he wasn't up to it, just someone to be near him and be close to him and let him know he wasn't totally alone the way he seemed to think he was.

"Do you want a cuddle?" Regulus spoke quietly.

Remus sat up to stare confusedly at Regulus for a moment.

"Sometimes when people feel sad if they have a cuddle it makes them feel much better" Regulus mumbled shyly, he wasn't used to this sort of thing.

Remus blinked and smiled moving to cuddle up to Regulus.

"Cuddling, for people that enjoy it, can reduce stress and be a small health benefit" Regulus chuckled nervously.

Remus let out a short laugh. "I enjoy it, so maybe it will help me... if you don't mind hugging something like me..."

"There's nothing at all wrong with you, Remus" Regulus whispered.

"There are many things wrong with me and my life, everything I went through as a four-year-old, everything I've been through at school, my parents have been through so much and now this... this shitty situation I am in now, how could it possibly get any worse?!"

Regulus swallowed. "Don't ask that question"

"Why not?"

"Because I find whenever I have asked it it has made things worse, it's like a challenge" Regulus cringed slightly.

Remus chuckled again. "You're quite silly, aren't you?"

"Sometimes I am, but isn't that the fun thing about people? they can always surprise you?" Regulus kept his voice gently as Remus wrapped his arms around his skinny waist.

Remus sighed softly and nodded. "It's a great quality to have, make sure you never lose it" he grinned at the younger boy.

"I won't, but on one condition" Regulus grinned.

"Oh?"

"You do your very best to make things better" Regulus breathed. "Make yourself as happy as you can, I am here for you, report those nut jobs and see them jailed for their crimes... be the strong person I know you are" he smiled and gently petted Remus' lovely blonde hair. "You also know yourself that you're strong inside and our and you can handle this"

Remus found himself smiling warmly. "I hate how right you are..."

"Why not do something about all of this? prove to me and to yourself how amazing you are and get through this" Regulus said gently, hugging Remus a little tighter.

Remus furrowed his eyebrows. "You don't smell like him..."

Regulus felt suddenly very confused. "I don't understand..." he frowned, looking down into Remus' heart-shaped face.

Remus swallowed. "You don't smell like your brother, you're not like him at all, you're softer and more gentle... I would never have expected you to be the way you are at all..."

Regulus let out a little laugh partly from relief and partly from disbelief. "Oh? how did you expect me to be?"

"Umm, cold, calculating, angry, standoff-ish, unsympathetic, vindictive, pure?" Remus flushed nervously. "Not to say you aren't a pure-blood, you are, but deep down you don't act like one at all... you don't have that cruel streak so many of them have and I find it really interesting to speak to you because of it" Remus smiled into his face again.

"Well I'm glad you think I'm nice" Regulus laughed brightly. "Merlin... I didn't have a clue people saw me as quite that bad..."

Remus flashed a smile. "I don't think everyone does, it's just the wrong type of judgement based on your house and based on a stereotype, you're a very kind person deep down and I think you have so much going for you"

"What would you say if I told you I feel the same way about you, only you're not a stereotypical Gryffindor despite being so brave and chivalrous" said Regulus.

"I would say that I have no idea how other people see me" Remus replied.

"I used to see you as the golden boy of Gryffindor, you're perfect and neat and smart and well-behaved and everybody sees the sun shining out of your backside" Regulus sighed.

Remus laughed loudly. "That's a bit mad..."

Regulus gave a playful shrug. "It's how people see you, I think everyone has an opinion on something but it is just that, it is all based on opinion and not on facts because although you are all of those things, there's a lot more to you than that"

"Humans are a very complex species" Remus mused.

Mr and Mrs Lupin came back down the stairs and smiled when they saw the boys hugging on the sofa together.

"There's nothing rude going on" Remus said very quietly.

"We didn't say anything and we don't have a problem with this" Mr Lupin chuckled, holding his hands up submissively. "We think it is very nice you're close to someone"

Remus sighed and just hugged Regulus tighter again.

...

"Severus?" Avery smiled as he found his boyfriend lying curled on his side in bed. "Sleeping again?"

"No, it's kinda cold down here" Severus smiled back. "What were you doing, anyway?"

"Tidying" Avery grinned and pulled the curtain back to show Severus all the tidying he'd done with their trunks. He moved to flop down on the bed beside Severus.

"How can you walk around like that? you look frozen!" Severus laughed, his dark eyes roaming over his boyfriend's body. He was lounging happily in nothing but boxers and his socks. He looked cold, but extremely sexy.

"You forget I can't feel the cold, I can feel the temperature change and that a human would consider it cold, but I'm not actually cold because I can't feel the cold" he chuckled in return. "But I will make an exception for you" he grinned and slipped beneath the bed covers to pull Severus into a cuddle.

"Just because you don't actually feel the cold, it doesn't mean that you don't look cold" Severus grinned as his boyfriend pulled him into his arms.

"Are you getting all worried about me?" Avery smirked, his eyes twinkling excitedly.

"Maybe" Severus flushed.

...

When it came time for bed, Remus wouldn't let Regulus sleep in the spare room. "I want you to be beside me and I want you to keep me safe..." he breathed through the darkness, catching Regulus' skinny arm before he could leave.

Regulus swallowed and nodded slowly. "I will sleep beside you but I don't want to offend your parents because they may feel it's inappropriate" he spoke slowly.

Remus shook his head and went to climb into bed, he looked pale and tired. Regulus couldn't argue and slipped into bed next to him settling himself down and hoping his father didn't come in and strangle him. Much to his dismay, Mr Lupin did decide to appear.

He blinked in surprise but just smiled looking from one to the other.

"I'm sorry, Mr Lupin, Remus said he wanted me to be next to him so he wasn't alone..." Regulus said rather quickly.

"It's fine" the man smiled gently and raised his hand before he went over to see to his son. "As long as Remus feels comfortable" he gently brushed his son's hair from his forehead.

Remus smiled weakly up into his father's face.

"I just want to make sure you're okay tonight and see if either of you need anything?" he looked from Remus to Regulus and back again.

"I'm fine, dad" Remus said.

His father shot him a sympathetic look, he leaned down and kissed his son on the forehead. "I love you, Remus" he spoke softly.

Remus smiled up at his dad."Love you too, dad" he breathed.

When Mr Lupin had gone, Regulus sighed heavily and stared at Remus' back. He felt so awful for him, but what could he do right now besides just comfort him and do as Remus wishes?

Regulus tried his best to put the thoughts from his mind and get some sleep...

...

It was a good few hours into the night when Regulus woke with a frown. He lay still blinking in the darkness feeling a little thirsty.

Something was wrong.

He yawned and sat up rubbing his tired eyes. Reaching for his drink on the bedside table he took a few gulps, put it back down and turned back around to face Remus. Except Remus wasn't there...

Frowning more deeply this time, Regulus reached over to touch the side of the bed. It was cold.

Regulus swallowed, something felt very wrong. He couldn't explain it, nor could he put his finger on it but something was most definitely wrong...

Throwing the covers back, Regulus climbed out of the warm bed. The house had been kept very warm and he exhaled slowly as he walked across the bedroom and opened the door. Wherever Remus had gone to he had taken the time to close it behind him. Regulus swallowed nervously as he made his way sleepily along the landing, he was feeling a little disorientated but he guessed that to be normal seeing as this was his first time in Remus' house.

Making his way along the landing he spotted some light spilling out from under the crack in the bathroom door. Regulus glanced back towards the direction of Mr and Mrs Lupin's bedroom, the door was closed and it was in complete and utter darkness from what he could tell. So it wasn't them.

Nervously he stepped up to the door on his tip-toes hoping to avoid the creaky floorboards under the old runner and leaned in closer to the door.

Silence.

Regulus' heart was thumping hard in his chest as slowly and silently he reached for the handle. Turning it he creaked the door open.

And found Remus standing staring at himself in the mirror, a bottle of Muggle pills in one hand, the other hanging onto the side of the sink basin.

"Remus!" he gasped as the boy swayed and looked faintly towards him. Without thinking, Regulus rushed to his side and grabbed him to steady him on his feet, terror coursed through his veins with every crashing thump of his heart. He swallowed the lump that appeared in his throat. "Remus..." his voice was shaking. "I need you to tell me if you took anything..."

In response the bottle of pills slipped from Remus' grasp and landed with a soft _thump_ on the bath mat at Regulus' feet.

"HELP!" Regulus screamed, his voice cracking slightly as he struggled to hold up a now slowly collapsing Remus. "HELP ME!"

The bedroom door crashed open and footsteps came thundering towards him.

Regulus lowered Remus down to hold him with trembling hands. His mind was racing so fast, his eyes so wide. This could not be happening. This should not be happening. This was not happening.

But it was.

Doing the only thing he knew to do in this situation, he rammed his fingers as far down Remus' throat as he could. The boy spluttered and heaved, wrenching and vomiting up onto the bath mat beneath him, his eyes half-closed and foggy. Regulus nearly retched at the sight and forced his fingers in again despite a desperate coughing and whining sound coming from Remus.

The door burst open and Hope appeared looking wild and terrified. "Remus!" she gasped in horror watching her son coughing up little while pills amongst chunks of dinner weakly on the floor.

"Oh my god..." Mr Lupin's eyes widened as he stopped in the doorframe staring down at his son in horror. "Honey-"

Hope swept down immediately and lay a hand across Remus' forehead. "I am a nurse" she said quickly to Regulus as she reached for the bottle, her eyes scanning over it quickly. "Okay, Lyall, get the equipment in the upstairs cupboard beside our room and take it straight into Remus' room" she instructed.

Without hesitation he obeyed.

Regulus felt numb all over, he hadn't realised he was crying until his tears dripped from his pale face into Remus' hair.

"It's okay, Regulus, he will be okay" she breathed, her own fingers shaky as she propped her son's head up.

"Do you know how long he has been like this?" she asked as she helped Regulus pull him up and into Regulus' arms.

Regulus managed to support his weight easily, but Remus was bigger than he was so he wobbled a bit. "I-I don't know, I came in and he was standing up and swaying and looking completely out of it..." he managed.

Tears were in her eyes as she helped Regulus get Remus back to his room and onto his bed.

"Is this right?" Lyall looked helplessly to his wife whom seemed utterly frantic.

"Yes" she breathed, tears in her own eyes. She snapped on a pair of medical gloves and turned to her equipment hurriedly, her eyes scanning every part of it.

Regulus watched in absolute horror as she tilted Remus' chin back and began to slip it down his throat. "What are you doing to him?" he breathed watching Remus shudder and splutter against it.

"I need to get the pills out of his stomach" she breathed. "Do you know how many he'd taken?"

Regulus shook his head, his mind whirling around and around. "I don't know but there was some left in the bottle"

"This bottle?" Mr Lupin asked, holding one up.

Regulus turned quickly to him and nodded.

"Says thirty on the label" he choked, a hand flying to his mouth. "There's about four left..."

"How many had we taken before this?" Mrs Lupin asked hurriedly.

Mr Lupin shook his head, his mouth open and his eyebrows tightly knitted together. "I-I have no idea... some? I had taken a few over the last couple of weeks..."

"He has taken enough to be losing consciousness" Mrs Lupin sniffed hard through her blinding tears. "This isn't going to be pleasant," she said.

Regulus had no idea what she was talking about until he heard a soft sort of sucking sound and the next moment he heard the _chink _of something small and hard hitting a metal plate. His eyes wandered to the machine and he nearly heaved.

Mr Lupin let out a sob as he reached over and gently stroked Remus' hair as more _chink_ sounds followed.

Regulus was almost sick at the sight of it and had to look away taking slow deep breaths to calm himself. It was okay, she was fixing Remus, he would be okay, she was removing the pills from his system.

It took a good few minutes but eventually almost twenty pills came out of him along with another few waves of vomit before she removed the pipe and allowed Remus to relax back into the bedding breathing slowly.

"Is he going to be okay?" Regulus sobbed, moving closer to the bed, his eyes wandering over his friend again. He'd never seen anything like this before in his life, never known this to happen and it wasn't exactly something on his to-do list.

Hope was quiet for a few moments as she listened to his heart and lungs. "He should be, that's most- if not all- out"

Mr Lupin let out another small sob, his shoulders slumping with relief. He leaned over his son to brush his hair back and kiss him softly on the forehead. "What happens now?" he breathed, looking helplessly to his wife.

Mrs Lupin swallowed nervously. "For now we keep a constant watch on him, we call in another nurse or a doctor who can prescribe something for him if he needs it" she said quietly.

"Madam Pomfrey" Regulus breathed. "She is the school nurse, she can be here so quickly and she's qualified to do prescriptions"

"I'll write to her" Mr Lupin said jumping up suddenly. "It's the least I can do in this situation"

Mrs Lupin nodded and busied herself straightening out the covers so Remus was more comfortable. Her husband kissed her on the cheek.

"You did a wonderful job, thank you so much" he breathed.

She swallowed. "He's not out of the woods yet, but he should be okay, he didn't absorb many into his body. I am more concerned for his mental health than physical because I believe physically he can get over this soon enough" she explained.

Regulus sniffled and wiped the tears from his cheeks. Mr Lupin walked out of the bedroom to write the letter. Regulus moved over to the bed and climbed up in the space beside Remus gazing down into his peaceful face. He felt awful, if he'd just have gotten up even a couple of minutes earlier...

"Don't blame yourself for this, Regulus, it isn't your fault" the woman smiled to him gently, tears still welling in her own eyes.

"If I had have just woken up a few minutes earlier or if I'd have heard him get up... he wouldn't be in this state right now..." he swallowed, wiping away his fresh hot tears. "I should have known he would do this..."

"Did he say anything about this to you?" she frowned worriedly.

"No, nothing" Regulus shook his head slowly. "I had no idea he was planning this, all he said was he wanted me to sleep beside him then he was silent after that. I just assumed he was tired"

The woman sniffled, her shoulders slumping.

Mr Lupin came back into the room. "I've sent the letter, it should arrive shortly and the nurse will be on her way after that so we should expect her within the next few hours"

Mrs Lupin nodded slowly, she was a muggle, she didn't understand much of this Wizarding stuff.

Regulus sniffed hard again and reached out tentatively to stroke his fingers across Remus' soft cheeks. "I never realised he was feeling suicidal, I knew he wasn't feeling good but I would never have thought he would be this bad..." he breathed. "He's usually so happy and bouncy and full of life... it scares me to see him like this..." he felt as though he were only talking to himself.

"I can't take this, I am reporting this" Mr Lupin exhaled heavily and held his hands in the air. "I can't sit back while my son tries to take his own life because of some monsters he used to call friends. I won't allow it!"

"But Remus isn't ready to tell anyone just yet" Regulus furrowed his eyebrows worriedly. "He doesn't want people to know he was..." he swallowed and averted his eyes from Mr Lupin back to Remus again.

"Maybe Regulus is right" Hope said in a low voice. "Maybe it isn't the right time to tell anyone about this..."

Mr Lupin looked worriedly into his wife's eyes. "If we don't tell anyone this can only get worse"

"But what if we are the ones to make it worse by telling people before he's ready?" she asked worriedly.

"It might be better for him if we just drag it all out in one go rather than letting him recover from this and telling people after that putting him straight back through it all" Mr Lupin swallowed.

"What do you think, Regulus?" Mrs Lupin looked helplessly to him. "You have heard Remus talking, you saw him right after it happened... what do you think he would want?"

Regulus pursed his lips for a few moments, sweat beading slightly on his forehead. He hated being put under pressure like this. He felt as though it wasn't his place to really say these things. "I-I don't know if it's my place to say anything..." he breathed, his eyes turning down to the soft bed covers again.

"You can talk to us, we just want to help our son..." Lyall looked to Regulus in desperation and sank down on the edge of the bed to look into Regulus' eyes. "We love him very much and we will do ANYTHING to help him..."

Regulus swallowed nervously and looked into Remus' father's blue eyes that were glistening with tears. "I think Remus would prefer it if we let him make the choice who reports the... the rape... and when they report it, he deserves that much, especially after what happened tonight. I know for a fact that Remus deserves a lot more than what happened to him in Gryffindor"

Hope let out a small sob and put her face in her hands.

Mr Lupin sniffed hard trying to calm himself down. "Where has he been staying at school since this happened?" he spoke slowly.

"With me in the Slytherin dungeons" Regulus swallowed.

"So you're in Slytherin?"

Regulus nodded slowly.

"Okay, and he's safe there whilst he's in school?" Mr Lupin asked gently.

Regulus nodded quickly.

"He's only a teenager, he has his whole life ahead of him. This should not be happening" Mr Lupin sighed heavily.

Regulus swallowed and shook his head. "Remus is a good person and he should have the final say in anything that happens because it's his life. But you are his parents and you do kind of have the right to make some decisions for him, I'm just not so sure he would appreciate decisions like this being made for him..." he said nervously and looked back at Remus again.

Mr Lupin sighed and Mrs Lupin kissed her son on the forehead.

"It was incredibly lucky my wife was here with us or we could be in trouble right now..." Mr Lupin breathed, looking lovingly towards Hope. "She used to work in insurance, but after Remus became... infected... she chose to train as a nurse so she could help treat his wounds and nurse him back to health. She thought it would be beneficial when we have a son like him" he said slowly.

Regulus looked very confused.

"Oh, insurance firms are a place Muggle people phone up to where they pay money to cover their items, lives, homes, pets and cars that if they get damaged say by a fire or they get sick or hurt the insurance will pay for the damages and they won't be out of pocket" he smiled.

That wasn't exactly what Remus was feeling confused about but he smiled and nodded in understanding anyway. Well, he didn't know what insurance was, they had something similar in the Wizarding world but it didn't cover muggle items. He was more confused about what Lyall meant over Remus being infected. Infected with what? was it serious? was he diseased? could he catch it?!

"Poor, poor Remus" Lyall sighed, shaking his head slowly and looking at his son. "He never deserved to be bitten when he was a child, he never deserved his condition..."

Bitten? Regulus blinked and looked confusedly up at Mr Lupin.

"You do know that Remus has Lycanthropy, don't you?" the older man frowned at Regulus.

Regulus felt the bottom drop out of his stomach, if this were any situation he would have recoiled from Remus in absolute horror. But he stayed still, his eyes wide and staring down at the dozing boy nervously.

"Oh... I'm so sorry" the man breathed, suddenly looking panicked. "I thought he would have told you by now..."

Regulus swallowed the lump that had appeared in his throat. "He never told me anything like that..."

Lyall put his hand over his mouth and exhaled heavily looking to his wife for help.

"You have to understand... Remus isn't dangerous, he is contained and he's safe" Hope spoke gently, trying to reassure the boy.

"How is he even at school?" Regulus said before he could stop himself. His eyes widened when he realised what he'd said.

"Dumbledore allowed him in, we thought he would never be allowed to go, but he was and he is safe there" Lyall said quickly. "He is well watched and cared for at school, he would never hurt someone"

Regulus swallowed again, staring down at Remus' face. It was hard to believe he could possibly be a werewolf.

"We all have demons inside of us" said Hope. "Just some appear once a month, others fester for years and become dangerous. Remus isn't dangerous"

"So he's... definitely okay?" Regulus looked uncertainly from one parent to the other.

"Remus is fine to be around, how you see him on a normal daily basis is how he is, just for a few hours every month he will transform and be locked up but I think it's more his place to explain all of this to you than ours, we have already said too much" Mr Lupin smiled gently.

Regulus swallowed again and nodded slowly with understanding. "I'm more concerned about him tonight than his werewolf status"

Mr Lupin smiled warmly to Regulus. "I am very happy that Remus found a friend in all of this"

Regulus smiled right back. "I never expected to make friends with him... but I'm glad I did, he's a good person"

They all sat together for a little while longer before Mrs Lupin excused herself to start tidying up downstairs so when the nurse came she wasn't coming into a pit.

Mr Lupin watched her leave anxiously for a few moments, fidgeting with his pyjama trousers. "I think I should really go with her and help, are you okay to sit here with him?" he looked very anxiously to the young man.

Regulus nodded and smiled. "I'll call if he wakes up"

"Good, and thank you for saving him" Mr Lupin smiled. "I really appreciate you helping him, if you hadn't found him and stuck your fingers down his throat he could be dead by now..."

"I just did what I could, I wouldn't ever want to see him dead" Regulus breathed.

Lyall smiled again and patted Regulus on the calf through the duvet before he got up and left the room.

When the door closed, Regulus allowed the tears to flow slowly down his cheeks. He exhaled slowly and shakily and turned to Remus. How could this possibly happen and why had he been so ignorant to this. He should have known this would happen but Remus hadn't exactly said anything about it.

It was a little while later when Remus let out a small groan and Regulus' eyes widened.

"Remus?" he breathed.

Remus' eyes fluttered open and he gazed sleepily up at Regulus. If Regulus hadn't known any better he would have thought Remus just to be tired. Remus blinked at him a few more times before his face settled into a look of both drowsiness and confusion. "Regulus?" he rasped slightly. "What?"

"Oh, Merlin, you're okay..." Regulus gasped.

Remus winced a little and stared up confusedly into Regulus' face. He seemed slightly oblivious to his surroundings for a moment before he came round a little more. "Why am I in my bedroom? how did I get here?"

"What's the last thing you remember?" Regulus swallowed, fearful of what the answer may be.

The werewolf was silent for a few moments. "Standing in the bathroom... taking some pills..."

"How many did you take?"

"M-most of the bottle..." Remus groaned, his hands moving up to rest on his forehead.

Regulus swallowed quickly. "Are you feeling okay?"

"Head hurts" Remus winced.

"Remus?"

"Mm?"

"Why?" Regulus whispered softly, staring at the boy in disbelief.

Remus opened his eyes slowly to look into Regulus'. An expression of sadness washed over his face. He gave a shrug which was not the answer Regulus was looking for at all.

"You can't just shrug your shoulders, Remus, there must be a reason behind it" Regulus swallowed again, his eyebrows furrowing very deeply. Remus had never seen him look so concerned but right now he was too zoned out to think much on it.

"I was just there, I woke up with a headache and went to take some painkillers..." he gave another small shrug. "I took one, looked at myself in the mirror and just kept taking them..."

Regulus felt heartbroken, tears welled in his eyes and he had to purse his lips tightly to make sure the boy didn't see him so upset. It wouldn't exactly help their case.

"I just felt so down" Remus went on. "Never felt lower, I faced myself in the mirror and felt completely vile, everything about myself. Like everything had been taken away from me and I didn't deserve to ever smile again. I rejected myself and I hated myself in that very moment and I still do..."

Regulus let out a small sob catching Remus' attention but he couldn't control himself. He burst into floods of tears right then and there, loud enough for Mr Lupin to come running in.

His wide eyes fell straight on his son and he gasped loudly before rushing over to him. "Remus..."

Remus gazed sadly into his father's face. "No!" he whined.

"No?" the man blinked confusedly.

"Leave me alone!" Remus let out a small, choked sob.

"Remus, the nurse will be here very soon to see you" his father pleaded. "You need to let us help you" he reached out to touch his son but Remus pulled away with a small sob.

"NO!"

Regulus pursed his lips, there was little any of them could do.

In the background he vaguely heard someone knock the front door and it being opened. Remus began to scream as footsteps came rushing up the stairs and moments later the nurse came through the door looking very worried for him.

"Remus, listen to me, you're in a safe place..." the nurse said as she opened her bag and quickly spelled her hands clean before snapping on some latex gloves.

Remus just turned his face away from her and continued to sob as the other three watched helplessly.

"It's okay, we're going to make you better..." she spoke reassuringly and in a very soft tone.

"I. DON'T. WANT. TO. GET. BETTER!" Remus roared.

The nurse quickly filled a syringe, tapped it and squirted before she pulled out his arm and found a vein sinking the needle into it slowly.

Remus gasped but Regulus grabbed him and held him down steady so he couldn't thrash about and hurt himself. very quickly be began to grow limp, his eyes slowly falling closed and his lips parting.

"What have you done to him?!" Regulus gasped desperately.

"He's okay, I am just sedating him" the nurse explained, disposing of the used equipment. "He will sleep for a good few hours, probably for most of the day now and when he wakes me will be much calmer"

"Oh my god..." Hope breathed, her hands covering her mouth in horror.

Lyall looked close to vomiting. "What have you done to him?! why does he need sedating?!"

"Sometimes when suicide victims wake they are confused, delirious and not in the right frame of mind to deal with too much. It is best he be sedated and sleep until it comes out of his system on its own, it is healthier for him and for everyone around him" she spoke calmly checking his heart rate. "He's lucky you managed to get the pills out of him before they did any damage, he will recover physically within a few days but emotionally this could take some time"

Regulus gulped.

"What happens to him now?" Mrs Lupin sniffed hard.

"I will prescribe him some anti-depressants, he can take them for a period of time if he should choose to but he needs to be put under surveillance until he's feeling better"

"You're not going to lock him in the psychiatric ward, are you?!" Regulus asked worriedly.

"No, but I will advise he seeks some help for his problems be it a support group of a counsellor for now. I also feel his family and friends are a huge benefit until we get to the bottom of what has caused this"

Regulus tried not to show any signs that he knew what was happening. His parents flinched.

She reached into her bag and signed off a slip, moving over to Mr Lupin she handed him a bottle of pills. "You need to monitor these, one at night should be enough to start with and you can increase the dose to two if you feel he needs it. If you need anything else from me I will come back whenever you call but I am sure you must understand that I need to return to the castle to make sure my other students are safe..." she looked worriedly into his eyes.

Mr Lupin swallowed and node. "Yes, yes of course" he said.

Mrs Lupin walked Madam Pomfrey to the door and waved good-bye to her.

...

"I think you should try to get some rest now, Regulus" Mr Lupins smiled gently. "We won't be any use to Remus if all of us are tired"

Regulus looked hesitantly at the man.

"Don't worry, I'll sit here with him for now and you can sit with him later" Mr Lupin smiled gently.

The more Regulus thought about it, he more he realised Mr Lupin was right. He nodded slowly and lay down facing Remus watching him sleeping. He would definitely have to contact Severus and Avery in the morning...

...

Friday morning and Avery and Severus were sitting at the breakfast table.

"Did you feed this morning?" Severus asked as he began piling his plate with delicious breakfast foods.

"Of course" Avery smiled. "I'm good at getting out and back without waking you, aren't I?"

Severus chuckled. "Your vampire sense are incredible"

They began eating and chatting peacefully as the morning post swooped in. Hundreds of owls poured into the Great Hall searching for their owners to deliver various items.

"Thank Merlin it is almost the weekend" Severus sighed heavily. "I can't wait to finally get some rest"

"You're getting bigger now" Avery smiled back. "You need to keep your feet up and make sure you're resting as much as possible"

Severus let out a small laugh. "I am not that big yet"

"Not overly huge, but you're on your way" Avery smiled.

An owl swooped down in front of them, its claws clattering against the wooden table as it landed in front of them, an envelope addressed to both of them clutched in its beak.

"Isn't that Remus' owl?" Severus blinked exchanging looks with his boyfriend before he reached out and took the letter from the bird.

"They're probably trying to make us jealous that they're relaxing and laying around in bed all day long and saying we have to go to lessons" Avery chuckled watching his boyfriend turn the envelope over and open it.

Severus took the piece of paper out and unfolded it to read. Avery watched his boyfriend's face fall very quickly and his hand come to his mouth in shock-horror.

"What?" Avery frowned.

Severus shook his head, his hand still over his mouth. Utterly speechless.

"What's wrong?" Avery's voice became a little more serious.

Severus swallowed and looked away as he handed the letter over to his lover.

Avery took it nervously and began to read;

_Dear Will and Severus; _

_ I am writing to let you know that last night Remus tried to commit suicide. He woke up in the night and tried to swallow a bottle of pills. Thankfully he is okay for now and the nurse has seen to him. He will be sleeping for most of the day and he has the option of anti-depressants for a while but we don't know how he currently stands on it. His father is a nervous wreck and his mother can't stop cleaning and keeping herself busy. Things are bad but he's going to be okay very soon. I managed to hold them off of reporting the incident until Remus gives them permission out of respect for him but I don't know what else to do about this. It's getting more serious as the days pass and I can't imagine what will happen next. _

_Hope you can come visit in a day or two, I'm sure Remus would love to see everyone very soon. _

_- Reg_

Avery swallowed deeply and looked to his boyfriend.

"I knew he should have gone to the nurse straight away..." Severus breathed, tears glistening in his dark eyes.

"He probably should have but he wasn't suicidal then" Avery swallowed. "He's obviously in a very difficult place now"

"We should go and visit" Severus swallowed, his eyebrows furrowing. "He needs us beside him right now"

Avery nodded quickly in agreement. "We could go and see what is going on tomorrow afternoon or evening for a little while"

"Yeah, we shouldn't intrude" said Severus. "I can't imagine how his parents feel, their child trying to take his own life like that..." he gazed down worriedly at his bump.

"Hey, that's not going to happen" Avery said, gently taking Severus' hands in his own and gazing deeply into his eyes. "Look at me"

Severus obeyed and gazed into his lover's eyes. "I just couldn't cope if it ever happened to me or our son..."

A fierce look crossed Avery's eyes as he leaned in to kiss his boyfriend tenderly on the lips. "Don't you worry about a thing any more, Severus" he breathed. "Don't you worry..."

Severus slowly returned to his food. His appetite had diminished but he was still going to make himself eat and drink something for the sake of his son rather than himself. He had to learn to put some of his emotions over this case aside. There was nothing any of them could do to control this situation until Remus said they could. Nothing. It hurt Severus so much to imagine how Remus was feeling right now, to think he was feeling so down and alone and they were at a loss as to what they could do.

...

Regulus felt drained when he woke up. Physically he was somewhat rested, mentally he was exhausted.

Mrs Lupin couldn't keep herself calm. It was interesting to see how different people coped in the same situation. Mrs Lupin was tidying, cooking and sorting through things that were of little importance such as household maintenance, banking and anything she could find to deal with to take the pressure off and try to calm herself with. Mr Lupin on the other hand was emotional and wouldn't leave Remus' side. More than once he had tried and strokes his son's hair as he slept on completely unaware of what was going on around him.

"He's not dead" Regulus reminded the man gently, shortly after lunchtime. The house felt haunted, too still.

"I know he isn't, but he shouldn't be in this condition either" he sniffed hard. "This is all my fault, I should never have allowed him to go to school"

"You couldn't possibly have predicted this, none of us could..." Regulus shot him a sympathetic look.

"No but I feel if I had done things differently then he wouldn't be suicidal right now"

Regulus swallowed. "He did speak to me about it last night"

Mr Lupin looked alarmed, his lips parted with shock and his blue eyes widened. He looked so much like Remus at that point it was close to unbearable.

"He-he said he woke up with a headache, he was hurting so he went to the bathroom to get something to take the pain away and... he took one then just kept taking them" Regulus choked on his words nervously.

Lyall exhaled heavily, tilting his head back slightly where he was sitting in a side chair by the bed, trying to control his hurtful tears.

"I'm sorry... I shouldn't have said anything..." Regulus pursed his lips again.

"I'd rather have known the reason, I've been driving myself mad turning this over and over in my mind" he made a gesture spinning his finger by his temple. "I couldn't think of why he would just get up in the night to do this"

"I think maybe we shouldn't ponder on this too much" Regulus said, drawing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them. "I know you're his father and I can't tell you what you should and should do about this but I want to respect Remus how I think he would want to be respected"

"You were with him almost immediately after this happened, you know better than I do how he feels on the subject" Lyall bowed his head almost submissively. "You've been supporting him day and night since it happened, it's only right you know more about how he feels about this than I do"

Regulus swallowed the lump that had yet again risen in his throat. "I don't mean to impose on your family..."

"You're not imposing" the man shook his head.

"If you'd like I can just leave" Regulus thumbed nervously at the door.

Lyall let out a soft chuckle despite the stillness of the room. "No, I think Remus would go on a downhill spiral very quickly if you left his side. He obviously trusts you and cares about you very much"

Regulus sighed and managed a small smile.

...

Severus had been disturbed by the letter all day and couldn't push the horrific thoughts of it from his mind. He'd buried it in the bottom of his school bags and caught a glimpse of the parchment of all things evil every single time he opened it.

Avery put his arms around his boyfriend trying to soothe him earning a nasty snicker from Potter and Black.

Severus whirled around at them, his eyes flashing dangerously. "WHY DON'T YOU JUST FUCK OFF AND LEAVE PEOPLE ALONE YOU CRUEL, VILE TWATS!" he roared.

People in the corridor actually stopped to stare at Severus in complete and utter surprise. Nobody heard Severus shout like that before. He was always silky and quiet with his tone, this was completely abnormal behaviour for him.

James, Sirius and Peter looked to one another and started to laugh. Especially James and Sirius.

"Don't talk to me like that, Snivellus" James spat back. "You don't have any right to speak to me, I am out of your league"

Severus was seething with anger.

"You are out of his league, because he is in a much higher one that you will ever be" Avery said cruelly, his eyes narrowing.

Severus gazed up lovingly to his boyfriend.

"Do you get a kick out of being vicious, cruel brutes?" Avery went on, glaring at them.

They looked slightly confused but continued to grin at him. "No idea what you're on about, loser" Sirius tilted his head to one side.

Avery had to stop himself from tearing that monster's throat out. "You know exactly what I'm talking about" he said, stepping closer.

Severus swallowed and walked right up to Sirius and James. "You don't even care what damage you do to people as long as you're popular and you can make yourself feel cool. You are dangerous and you should be locked up for your crimes and one day very soon you will be" his dark eyes narrowed to slits.

Will kept his eyes focused on the boys coldly and dangerously, ready to get in there the moment he got the inkling they were going to hurt his love. He could move faster than any human, nobody could compete with him. It was the only reason he let Severus approach them and Severus knew it.

Sirius rolled his eyes and James smirked nastily.

"If you think I'm going to do anything to you like you know what we did to Remus then you can forget it" James' hazel eyes flashed coldly behind his glasses. "No way would I ever even consider touching something as disgusting and repulsive as you" he hissed, his voice so low nobody but Severus and Avery heard him.

Severus swallowed, his eyes widening. He knew exactly what they had done already, of course he did, but hearing that guy admit to it was much, much worse than he could possibly have imagined. "You are DISGUSTING" he spat.

James' lips twisted into a cruel smirk. "He deserved what he got"

"I agree, Remus is nothing but a waste of oxygen" Sirius smirked.

Severus was so angry it was unreal, a little nudge in his tummy only spurred him on like his son was telling him to go ahead. "I'll bet you didn't know that Remus tried took an overdose last night" he said viciously.

James laughed but a flicker of something serious crossed Sirius' face. He did not laugh.

"What?"

"Like we care, right, Sirius?" James quirked an eyebrow at his friend.

Severus caught Sirius' eyes and saw something behind them but Sirius quickly covered it and cleared his throat. "Right, James" he said, his eyes turning cold.

Severus stepped back shaking his head slowly. "I can't believe you... just you wait..." and he turned to walk away with his boyfriend.

And that was it.

This was war.

...

Severus had gone straight back to his dormitory and began sobbing his heart out into his pillow.

"Severus..." Avery spoke gently. "Shh... calm down..."

"How am I supposed to remain calm at a time like this?! I am full of hormones and all of this shit is going on?" he fell into his boyfriend's arms, hugging him tightly, thankful that he could squeeze Avery as tightly as he wanted to and it would never hurt him.

Will sighed softly and brought the hug into a more passionate manner. He kissed Severus softly on the top of his head. "I know this is really hard on everyone at the moment and I know it messes you up even more being pregnant, but we can all get through this"

Severus sniffed hard and looked into his boyfriend's face. "Did you see the look in Black's eyes?!" he breathed.

Avery swallowed and nodded slowly, looking Severus directly in the eye. "Yes... I saw it..."

"He... looked concerned..." Severus almost choked on the words. "He didn't realise it was that serious"

"Not but he deserves to be severely punished for destroying Remus' life like that. I don't care what people say. Remus might be a half-blood with a muggle mother, he might be a Gryffindor, a perfect prefect, a good-boy, a werewolf and the list goes on forever, but he did not deserve that"

Severus sniffed hard. "He never even did anything wrong but stick up for himself, why is it the underdog is always the one punished for the savage's crimes?"

Will sighed softly. "Because life is hard and people are fucking pathetic, they only want to keep up appearances thinking they look tough when they don't. They abuse the people who are weaker than them, physically or emotionally to validate themselves and their own position in society, not even because they're vile people, well, they are" he said softly. "But those brutes will get what's coming to them, whether they're arrested or they are... attacked by a savage beast..." his voice became slow, his eyes darkening slightly.

Severus' eyes widened. "Will-"

"I could do it, you know" Will's voice was low and dangerous once again. "I could finish them if the worst came to the worst"

Severus wasn't sure what to say, his mouth opened and closed several times. "You would actually kill them over this?" he whispered. Even though the dormitory was empty apart from them, he was still afraid someone was listening in.

Will nodded slowly and very seriously.

Severus exhaled slowly, pursing his lips slightly. "I don't think we should do anything drastic right now"

"No?"

"Let's wait for Remus" Severus said. "See what he wants first"

"Of course" Avery smiled gently. "After all, this is all about him and not us... even if I would love to tear the throat out of that horrible Potter boy"

Severus chuckled and gently batted his boyfriend on the arm.

...

It was later in the day when Remus finally stirred and woke from his sleep. Regulus was there immediately with wide eyes gazing at him in deep concern.

"Remus..."

"Ngh?"

"Remus, it's okay, you're at home in a safe place..." Regulus breathed, gently pressing the covers down a little away from the boy's face.

Remus blinked at him drowsily with very heavy lids.

"Hey" Regulus smiled warmly.

"Hi" Remus whispered back, barely able to speak.

"How are you feeling?" Regulus kept his tone light and warming.

"Like I tried to kill myself..."

Regulus forced himself not to purse his lips like sucking on the most sour lemon in the history of sour lemons. "Your dad is making you something to eat, he thought you might be up soon"

Remus sighed softly and closed his eyes again. "I don't feel up to eating anything"

"You have to keep your strength up" Regulus tried.

"Why?"

Regulus hesitated a moment. "So you can get better?"

"I'm not ill"

Regulus would have countered that but he didn't want to upset Remus any further. This was very unlike him, this odd behaviour, but he put it down to a mixture of being suicidal, confused and drugged all day. "Why not just try eating something?"

At that moment Mr Lupin appeared, he didn't look surprised to see that his son was awake. Swallowing, he moved in to rest the tray of two steaming bowls of a thick homemade broth and slices of thick white bread down beside Regulus on the bedside table. He left without a word and closed the door behind him.

Maybe he thought Regulus was the best one to talk Remus out of this right now? Regulus wasn't entirely sure but it had to be something along those lines.

"Remus... please..." Regulus looked to the boy in absolute pleading catching his eye.

Remus was silent for a few more moments before he sighed. "I'll try a little bit"

That made the Slytherin smile. He carefully lifted the tray to rest between them as Regulus sat himself up very slowly using his headboard to prop himself up and take some of the weight off. He still wasn't fully okay after all the drugs. He reached for a bowl and dipped some bread into the soup - lentil - and began to eat very slowly.

Regulus made a good example by tucking into his own food with a smile. "It's delicious, he's a really good cook"

"You seem hungry"

"To tell you the truth I have been too worried about you all day to eat very much" Regulus smiled shyly. "I felt sick with worry when I found you, it scared me... a lot"

Remus didn't meet his eyes and tilted his chin down so Regulus couldn't quite read his expression. "I didn't mean to hurt anyone or worry them..."

"But you tried to take your own life"

Remus sighed heavily. "I was just hoping to... slip away quietly just... be gone" he said slowly. "At that moment nothing else crossed my mind, nothing else was so intense in my mind. I had this vivid idea that I was going to go and everyone would be okay and I would be safe finally and everyone around me would be safe and happy for me that I was finally okay and away from those people and away from this shit hand of cards I've been dealt called my life"

Regulus almost burst into floods of tears. "I don't ever want you to think like that. I don't ever want you to think you would be better off dead or gone anywhere that isn't here... with me..." he breathed.

Remus looked up into Regulus' eyes.

"I don't want you to ever do that again, I don't want to see you suffering and I don't want you to ever try to take your own life" Regulus spoke honestly, his eyes brimming with hot tears and his eyebrows furrowed together tightly. "I want you to be able to talk to me and let me hold you and you can tell me exactly how you feel and you can feel safe around me and like you trust me"

"I do trust you"

"Then prove it" Regulus whispered.

Their eyes locked in the most intensive look ever imaginable.

"I don't want to be a burden on anyone, especially not someone as pure as you are... pure in every sense of the word..." he averted his eyes nervously.

Regulus frowned in confusion. "I-I don't understand..."

"You have everything going for you, you've got every opportunity in life. You're young, rich, handsome, pure-blood, free, intelligent, you have contacts, a decent social standing and you will go onto great things. You'll get married to someone, have children and start a huge life that most people dream about and that's the sort of life I will never have..." Remus exasperated, swallowing nervously.

"Who is to say you won't?" Regulus breathed.

"Life. Everybody in the wizarding community" Remus grumbled.

"Not me. I think you have everything going for you, you just have to get through this and this is a test many people would not survive, it's a test YOU can survive because you are strong" Regulus smiled warmly.

Remus looked up at him.

"Suicide is a permanent solution to but a temporary problem" Regulus breathed, tilting Remus' chin up with his two fingers.

"Then what is the solution to my problem?" Remus swallowed, looking nervously into Regulus' grey eyes.

"We'll soon figure this out, Remus, don't you worry. Somehow this problem will be over"

"Really?" Remus' blue eyes glittered hopefully.

"Yeah, and it will start with you finishing your soup" Regulus grinned.

Remus let out a small laugh for the first time in forever. Maybe now they would be able to get things back on track... and maybe get some revenge in it, too.

...


End file.
